Arab reporter’s video confrontation with Israeli security forces goes viral
Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, a video of a live-streamed confrontation between an Arab reporter and an Israeli security guard went viral on social media on Sunday.
On October 7, Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States, led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel then launched its heaviest airstrikes to date on Gaza. As of Sunday, more than 1,300 people had been killed in Israel, the Associated Press reported. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 2,300 people were killed in Gaza, the AP said. Since the attack, many reporters, including local and foreign correspondents, have been on site covering the ongoing events between Israel and Hamas.
In a post on What Darawsha and Al Araby say is an “armed Israeli police officer.”
“An armed Israeli police officer threatens Al Araby correspondent Ahmed Darawsha live on television,” reads the translated tweet from Al Araby TV.
Although it’s not clear from the video, Newsweek could not confirm whether the man was a police officer, as his hat appeared to identify him as a “security guard,” or whether the man was armed or not.
According to the translated video, which had over 575,000 views as of Sunday evening, the man interrupts the reporter’s segment by telling him to “say good things.”
Shortly after the confrontation, Darawsha explains, “The Israeli police are monitoring what we say, and he came towards me screaming and threatening,” as he describes the confrontation to onlookers and his colleagues.
Meanwhile, the man continues to interrupt the news broadcast by appearing to say, “Disgusting! We will turn Gaza into dust! Dust!”
Newsweek has reached out to Israeli police and Darawsha for further comment.
Al Araby TV
The confrontation with the reporter came after an Israeli shell struck a gathering of international journalists covering border clashes in southern Lebanon on Friday. A Reuters videographer was killed and six other journalists were injured. The shelling occurred during a shootout along the Lebanese-Israeli border between Israeli troops and members of the militant Hezbollah group in Lebanon.
“We are deeply saddened to inform you that our videographer Issam Abdallah has been killed. “We are urgently seeking further information, working with authorities in the region and supporting Issam’s family and colleagues,” Reuters said in a statement.
In response to Abdallah’s death, Israel’s envoy to the United Nations (UN), Gilad Erdan, said in a briefing on Friday, according to Reuters, “Of course we would never want to beat, kill or shoot a journalist who does this.” is his job. But you know, we are in a state of war, things could happen,” adding that the country will investigate.
