Al-Araby journalists said detained at Tel Aviv protest last night on suspicion of working for Al Jazeera

Communications Ministry inspectors detained journalists from London-based news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed during protests calling for a hostage deal in Tel Aviv last night, according to social media posts, on suspicion that they may be working for Al Jazeera, which was recently banned in Israel.

An Israeli journalist from the left wing +972 Magazine, Oren Ziv, shares video and photos on X, formerly Twitter, purporting to show Arab journalists from the Qatari-owned outlet being questioned by the inspectors, who had reportedly seen live footage of the Tel Aviv protests being broadcast on Al Jazeera.

1/2 The Israeli Ministry of communication confirmed that its workers arrived yesterday to a protest calling for a hostage deal, after they saw a live video of the protest on Al Jazeera. They didn't locate the source, but police detained Al Araby crew to check if they work for AJ pic.twitter.com/0PsfUT9HBN

— Oren Ziv (@OrenZiv_) May 12, 2024

The government last week approved a decision to temporarily shutter Al Jazeera’s offices in Israel on the grounds that it has harmed national security.

Another +972 journalist, Haggai Matar, notes on social media that Al Jazeera broadcasts live content from international news agencies, which was likely the source of the footage in question.

The Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reporters were released after questioning, according to the social media reports.