Palestinian journalist detained after being attacked by ultranationalist youth on Jerusalem Day

A Palestinian photographer was detained by the Israel Police earlier this week after he was attacked by a group of ultranationalist Jewish youth in the Old City of Jerusalem ahead of the Jerusalem Day flag march earlier this week, Hebrew daily Haaretz reports.

According to the report, freelance journalist Saif Kwasami — who was beaten and had items thrown at him by some 10 extremist Jewish youths — says he was detained hours later after a right-wing activist contacted the police with a claim that he was connected to Hamas.

The detention lasted around an hour and a half, and his equipment was confiscated. Police said Kwasami was “not in any way recognized as a journalist with relevant documentation valid in Israel, and only recently was banned from the Temple Mount and its entrances until August 2024,” Haaretz reports.

The police statement adds, however, that there was “no connection between the incident in which he was attacked and its investigation and his detention following another report received on suspicion of incitement.”

To that end, the complaint against him is also under investigation.