IDF detains, then releases, French journalist in southern Syria buffer zone
Military says Sylvain Mercadier and his fixer ‘came too close to the soldiers, was questioned and then released,’ as Mercadier says he was humiliated, had his equipment stolen
The Israel Defense Forces detained a French freelance journalist and his fixer in southern Syria on Wednesday, inside a buffer zone now controlled by the Israeli military.
The military said the pair were identified close to troops in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria, where the IDF deployed troops following the fall of the Assad regime a month ago.
“IDF troops interrogated the suspects and released them with their equipment and personal belongings,” the military said in response to a query.
The journalist, Sylvain Mercadier, said he and his fixer Mohammed al Fayyad were detained in the village of Hamidiyah near Quneitra.
“We were handcuffed and blindfolded, brought to the governorate’s house and mistreated for more than 4 hours. We were threatened and humiliated,” Mercadier said on X.
“After all of this, we were dropped in a field where our restraints were removed. The Israeli [sic] stole my sim card, my camera memory cards as well as 200 USD from Mohammed. We walked for 30 min before reaching a house,” he added.
Hi Everyone,
Today, alongside my fixer Mohammed al Fayyad, I was arrested by the Israeli army in the village of Hamidiye . We were handcuffed and blindfolded, brought to the governorate's house (muhafaza) and misstreated for more than 4 hours.
We were threatened and humiliated— Sylvain Mercadier (@Sylv_Mercadier) January 8, 2025
Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told a press briefing that the journalist “came too close to the soldiers, was questioned and then released.”
But Shoshani denied that any of his equipment had been removed.
Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders said it was relieved to learn of the release of Mercadier and his fixer after they were “assaulted and arrested this afternoon by Israeli armed forces.”
Israeli troops entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan in early December during the lightning rebel offensive, led by Islamist forces, that toppled longtime Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad.
The IDF has stressed that its deployment of troops to the buffer zone is a temporary measure amid the chaotic political transition there.
