Israeli safety forces violently disperse Muslim worshippers who had been performing the nightly Tarawih prayers exterior the outdated metropolis partitions of Jerusalem on March 17, 2026. – John Wessels/AFP through Getty Images
Israeli police attacked a gaggle of journalists exterior the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday night, together with a NCS producer who suffered a fractured wrist in the violent incident.
Police officers additionally broken photographic gear and confiscated reminiscence playing cards from journalists who had been exterior the Lion’s Gate of the Old City overlaying Ramadan prayers.
On Tuesday, Muslim worshippers, barred from praying at the Al-Aqsa mosque as a result of of wartime restrictions, gathered exterior the partitions of the Old City to carry out the Tarawih prayers of Ramadan. But police prevented them from praying and pushed them away. The worshippers relocated to a road contained in the close by Wadi Al Joz neighborhood.
Police then relocated the worshippers yet another time to a spot close to the Old City partitions when, moments later, officers threw stun grenades on the group. Two journalists had been detained on the scene as officers assaulted them and broken their gear. Several different journalists on the scene who had been documenting the unfolding incident, together with NCS’s senior producer Abeer Salman, tried to intervene however had been pushed away.
After the 2 journalists had been launched, Salman and different journalists went to examine on their colleagues. Police ordered the journalists again. Footage reveals the group acquiescing to the police directions when an officer in plain garments – presumably indicating a particular police unit – grabbed Salman’s hand, twisting it and inflicting a fracture in the wrist.
Israeli safety forces disperse Muslim worshippers who had been performing the nightly Tarawih prayers exterior the outdated metropolis partitions of Jerusalem on Tuesday. – John Wessels/AFP through Getty Images
In a police assertion issued to Israeli reporters on Tuesday and shared with NCS, the police accused journalists on the scene of refusing to comply with orders, claiming they had been “part of the disturbances.” The police assertion went on to say that “only after they were detained by police did they identify themselves as journalists and were subsequently released.”
The Union of Journalists in Israel ripped the police assertion as “factually incorrect.” The union referred to as for the police commissioner to instantly droop the officers concerned and launch an inner investigation.
“Police officers attacked several journalists without provocation, including foreign press,” the group stated. “The officers damaged professional equipment, confiscated memory cards documenting their illicit actions, and inflicted a bone fracture on a NCS producer.”
Nir Gontarz, a member of the union who offers with violence in opposition to journalists, stated police deliberately focused the journalists, absolutely conscious they had been on the scene.
“Sometimes journalists are accidentally hit, including by police officers, while doing their job. In this incident, it was not a mistake. The police marked the journalists as targets, and attacked them,” Gontarz stated. “It wasn’t a by product, it wasn’t coincidental, it was an intentional attack on journalists.”
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) additionally condemned the “unprovoked assault” on journalists. “The FPA calls on the Israel Police to immediately take action against the officers involved in this unprovoked assault and to act in the future to safeguard press freedoms, rather than trample upon them,” the group stated. (NCS Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond is a board member of the FPA.)
“None of this is acceptable,” the FPA stated.
NCS has sought remark concerning the incident from police however has not acquired a response.
Following the attack on journalists, NCS issued the next assertion: “On Tuesday evening, a NCS producer was among a group of journalists covering Muslim worshippers praying outside the Old City of Jerusalem during Ramadan. Police officers at the scene violently dispersed the crowd, which included many journalists. During this incident, an officer grabbed our producer causing a fractured wrist that required hospital treatment. We demand an explanation and accountability for this unprovoked assault and are pursuing this matter with the relevant authorities. As journalists, we abide by Home Front Command regulations during wartime, but those regulations do not under any circumstances permit officers to assault journalists.”
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