Israeli military orders detention of Palestinian journalist Omar Nazzal

Staff and agencies
Monday 2 May 2016 20.33 BST

Israel’s military has ordered a Palestinian journalist to be held for four months without charges or trial.

The military said Omar Nazzal is being held in administrative detention on suspicion of “unlawful activity” for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a PLO faction that has been labelled a terrorist organisation by Israel.

His lawyer, Mahmoud Hassan, said he believes his client, a leading member of the Palestinian journalists’ union, is being targeted because of his political activism. Hassan noted that under the system of administrative detention, the defence is not shown any alleged evidence against them.

Nazzal, 53, has been in custody since he was seized at an Israeli-run crossing between the West Bank and Jordan last month, while traveling to a meeting of the European Federation of Journalists.

The journalist headed Palestine Today, a TV station affiliated with the militant group Islamic Jihad, for five months, but quit earlier this year shortly before Israel shut the broadcaster down. He also had ties to the PFLP which in the past was involved in attacks on Israelis.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]