The Israel Defense Forces arrested Palestinian journalist Abdel Nasser al-Laham, a photographer covering local news for the Ma’an News Agency, on October 16, 2023. He is being held without charge at Ofer Prison, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
IDF forces broke down the door to al-Laham’s home in the Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem, at 6:30 a.m., pointed their guns at the journalist, tied his hands behind his back, and blindfolded him, al-Laham’s father, Mohammad al-Laham told Ma’an, which published a video of soldiers leading the journalist away.
Al-Laham´s father told CPJ that his son was questioned about activities during his time at university, though was unable to specify what. According to news reports, al-Laham majored in media technology at the Palestine National University.
In October 2024, al-Laham’s father posted on YouTube that his son had been detained for over a year. CPJ could not determine the status of his health in custody or if he was facing any charges.
Al-Laham was arrested in the course of Israel’s recent military operations in the region, which began after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Israel has killed scores of journalists in Gaza as well as six in Lebanon, jailed dozens of Palestinian journalists from the West Bank and Gaza, and destroyed much of the press infrastructure in Gaza, all while preventing the foreign press from entering Gaza.
In 2017, al-Laham, then 15, was imprisoned for eight months in Ofer prison, according to news reports. He was briefly arrested again in Jerusalem in May 2021 while he was on his way to the mosque for dawn prayers, according to news reports.
CPJ emailed the Israel Defense Forces, the Israel’s Security Agency, also known as Shin Bet, and the Israeli Prison Service in late 2024 for comment on the cases of imprisoned Palestinian journalists but received no response.