The Israel Police on Sunday arrested Israeli journalist Latifeh Abdellatif on suspicion of incitement to terror.
Abdellatif, a member of the Government Press Office, had allegedly published material from October through December praising the Hamas terrorist organization, including a video with an address by the group’s former leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, Israel Hayom reported.
She was apprehended in her home in Jerusalem’s Old City, according to police.
“In recent weeks, the David Region police opened an investigation against a resident of the Old City who published inciting content online,” said Assaf Harel, head of Investigations and Intelligence in the David Region of the Jerusalem District Police superintendent Assaf Harel was quoted by Israel Hayom as saying,
“It is important to emphasize that the connection between incitement and violence, disturbances and terrorism is direct and clear. Therefore, the issue is a key focus for us,” said Assaf Harel of the Jerusalem District Police.
Law enforcement are “constantly conducting monitoring and prevention activities, including online, against those who incite terrorism and call for harm against civilians,” he added.
According to Abdellatif’s social media accounts, she has worked in the past for Reuters, ABCnews, Al Jazeera English and the BBC and has 210,000 followers on Instagram.
Pro-Palestinian activists have reportedly called for her release.
Israel Hayom reported that she works today as a writer and photographer for UNFPA Palestine, a United Nations organization “dedicated to promoting and protecting the sexual and reproductive rights and health of the Palestinian people,” per the organization’s website.
Israel has recently stepped up its actions against journalists for allegedly praising terrorism and inciting to violence.
Last week, Israel Police opened an investigation into journalist Israel Frey on suspicion of incitement to terrorism after he posted on social media in praise of Palestinian terrorism, according to the police.
“A Palestinian who harms an IDF soldier or a settler in the apartheid territories is not a terrorist. And it’s not a terror attack. He is a hero who struggles against an oppressor for justice, liberation and freedom,” wrote Frey in one of the posts for which he was investigated.
Nidal Badarny, an Arab stand-up comedian who joked about the hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, was arrested in February.
“The footage raised concerns about a breach of public peace,” police said, according to Kan News, Israel’s public broadcaster.
Two shows by Badarny in Haifa and Nazareth were recently canceled following a public protest and a threat by the police to revoke the venue’s business license.
Also in February, Israeli police raided journalist Saeed Hassanain’s home, arresting him on suspicion of incitement.
The announcer of Israel Premier League soccer team Bnei Sakhnin F.C. was dismissed from his role after an interview in which he praised Hamas surfaced in Hebrew media.