Zionist troops abduct Press TV reporter near Bethlehem

Hamed was traveling with a camera crew when Zionist regime’s forces stopped them at a checkpoint near the town of Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem. The crew was searched, after which the forces abducted Hamed and released the cameramen, one of her colleagues told Press TV.

The abduction comes as the Palestinian journalist had been subjected to attacks and a smear campaign by Zionist accounts for the past month. In a coordinated effort, the accounts sought to intensify a media campaign against Hamed by posting similar content using nearly identical language.

Focusing on Naqqa Hamed’s presence in “Area B,” which is under Zionist regime’s security control, the accounts posed the provocative question of how she could continue working there “without being arrested,” citing her cooperation for Iran’s Press TV.

The campaign has been part of a targeted effort to exert psychological and media pressure, restrict the space available to journalists and media outlets, and obstruct Press TV’s reporting of Israeli crimes from reaching audiences around the world.

The reporter had previously been targeted while covering Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank. On August 6, Israeli forces attacked journalists, including Hamed, as they covered a raid on the Qalandiya refugee camp.

The reporters were wearing press vests and helmets and were clearly identified as members of the media when Zionist regime’s forces used a stun grenade and tear gas against them.

Hamed was also injured in December last year while reporting live from Qalandiya refugee camp after Israeli forces fired rubber bullets.

The latest detention comes amid continued Zionist regime’s forces raids across cities, towns and refugee camps in the occupied West Bank. The raids have involved home searches, arrests and gunfire, with tensions escalating since Israel began its genocide in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.