On April 16, 2024, Palestinian General Intelligence Service agents arrested freelance camera operator Khalil Dweeb after summoning him to a police station in Bethlehem to retrieve his previously confiscated cell phone.
On April 18, the Bethlehem magistrate’s court extended his detention for an additional five days at the request of prosecutors. The Palestinian human rights organization Lawyers for Justice said in their statement that they believed Dweeb’s arrest was connected to his journalistic work.
Dweeb has reported for Al Jazeera on events across the West Bank. He previously contributed footage to West Bank-based station Radio Bethlehem 2000 and the West Bank-based news agency J-Media Network. He was released on April 23, 2024.
CPJ routinely contacts the Israel Defense Forces' North America Media Desk about its arrests of journalists. In one 2024 response the IDF said it detains ‘individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity,' but has either provided no evidence or unsubstantiated evidence to CPJ to support these suspicions. CPJ has also contacted the Israeli Prison Service, the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, and Shin Bet about Palestinian journalists arrested in the West Bank but did not receive any replies.