Israeli forces release Al Jazeera journalist in occupied West Bank

Israeli forces have released Al Jazeera correspondent Montaser Nassar and more than a dozen other people hours after detaining them during a raid in the southern occupied West Bank.

Nassar was detained early on Tuesday at his home in Dura, near the city of Hebron.

Video of the incident shows Israeli forces leading Nassar, who was blindfolded and handcuffed, into a military vehicle.

Reporting from Hebron, Al Jazeera’s Mohamad Atrash said at least 20 Palestinians were detained in the raid on Dura, including former prisoners and a Fatah official, all of whom were freed as troops withdrew.

Nassar had been reporting on the raid from his home in the town when Israeli troops seized him.

“He went towards the door, according to his wife’s account, but saw soldiers advancing towards the residential building where he lives before the army raided this particular house,” Atrash said.

“The army entered and assaulted his wife before confiscating our colleague Montaser’s personal phone,” he said.

Nassar was then taken away with other detainees at about 2:30am (00:30 GMT).

Israeli forces released Nassar after holding him for several hours at an army camp near the Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron, Atrash reported.

Atrash, who spoke to Nassar after his release, said he and the other detainees were “handcuffed behind their backs, blindfolded and assaulted” while being taken to the camp.

There, they were assaulted again and forced into “tiring and exhausting positions” before officers from the Israeli internal security service Shin Bet arrived and threatened them, he said.

Israel is holding at least 40 Palestinian journalists, “half of whom are held under administrative detention without charge”, Atrash added.

The detention comes amid mounting pressure on Palestinian journalists in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate recorded 84 alleged violations of freedom of the media by Israeli forces and settlers in August, including arrests and a death in custody.

Last week, Israeli forces raided Al-Ghad TV’s Hebron office. They raided and shut down Al Jazeera’s Ramallah bureau in the occupied West Bank in 2024.

Israeli military raids also took place elsewhere in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, including in the town of Tammun and the Far’a refugee camp in Tubas, and in Qalqilya, where several Palestinians were arrested. Homes were also searched in the northern city of Nablus, particularly in its eastern areas and the Balata refugee camp.