Media watchdog: Israeli court extends journalist detention

Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip protest the detention of their
colleagues in Israeli jails. (MaanImages/Hatem Omar, File)

SALFIT (Ma'an) -- An Israeli military court in the West Bank has extended the detention of newspaper journalist Walid Khaled, Reporters Without Borders said on Saturday.

Khaled was detained on May 8 and has spent six months in detention, the media watchdog said in a press statement.

The court, in northern West Bank town Salfit, extended his detention for a further six months, it added.

The organization said it was "concerned by new round of Israeli arrests of Palestinian journalists in Jerusalem and the West Bank in the past few days, suggesting that a tougher line is being taken towards the Palestinian media."

On Wednesday, Israeli police detained the 26-year-old presenter of a programme about Palestinian prisoners on the satellite TV station Al-Quds.

Isra Salhab was brought before a military court for a closed-door hearing and remains in detention, the watchdog said.

Maan News Agency