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BBC Lodges Complaint After IDF Detains Journalists at Gunpoint in Syrian Buffer Zone

The BBC has not received a response from the IDF following a seven-hour detention involving strip-searches and interrogation

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Feras Kilani, BBC Arabic’s special correspondent, in Damascus, two days before he was detained by Israeli forces
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Overview

  • On May 9, three BBC journalists and four colleagues were stopped at a checkpoint near Quneitra in Syria’s demilitarised buffer zone and held by Israeli soldiers for seven hours.
  • Detained staff were blindfolded, tied up and strip-searched before their phones and laptops were examined and some photos deleted.
  • BBC Arabic correspondent Feras Kilani recounted having a gun pointed at his head, facing personal questioning and being warned of “worse consequences” if they returned.
  • The BBC has filed a formal protest with the Israeli military, condemning the treatment as wholly unacceptable and demanding accountability.
  • As of June 5, the Israeli military has not replied to the BBC’s complaint, intensifying concerns over press freedom and journalist safety in the occupied zone.