Israeli military pulls out West Bank troop unit following attack on CNN reporter

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Israeli army soldiers are seen among military vehicles in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on March 16, 2026. The Israeli military said on March 16 that it had begun what it described as “limited ground operations” against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when the Tehran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of the Iranian supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes, with Israel launching air raids on the neighbouring country and troop incursions into border areas. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) /

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Israel’s military said Monday it had pulled a battalion out of the West Bank after a soldier assaulted a CNN photojournalist last week in a village in the occupied Palestinian territory.

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A CNN team was reporting on the aftermath of an assault by Israeli settlers and the establishment of an illegal outpost near the Palestinian village of Tayasir on Thursday when they were detained by Israeli soldiers, the Foreign Press Association said in a statement.

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After the soldiers pointed their guns at the CNN crew, “an IDF soldier approached CNN’s photojournalist from behind, placed him in a chokehold, slammed him to the ground, and damaged his camera”, said the association, which represents hundreds of journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

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CNN corroborated the details in its own report on the incident, identifying the photojournalist as Frenchman Cyril Theophilos.

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“This was not a misunderstanding… It was a violent assault on clearly identified journalists and a direct attack on press freedom,” the FPA said.

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On Monday, the military, in a rare move, withdrew a battalion from the West Bank following the incident.

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“The operational deployment currently being carried out by the reserve battalion will be suspended,” it said in a statement.

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“The battalion will remain in reserve service and will undergo a process aimed at reinforcing its professional and ethical foundations.”

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The battalion would resume operational activity once the process is completed, the military added.

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It was the second such incident involving CNN this month.

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Earlier in March, a CNN producer was left with a fractured wrist following an “unprovoked assault” by Israeli police officers in Jerusalem.

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Journalists in the West Bank have on numerous occasions been detained, harassed or beaten, with a notable rise in incidents after the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, according to rights groups.

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Israel has been listed as a “top jailer of journalists” since then, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

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The committee said at least 60 Palestinian journalists have been detained or jailed by Israeli forces since the start of the Gaza war.

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Though foreign journalists are less at risk, soldiers at checkpoints or at sites of breaking news frequently aim their weapons at reporters.

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AFP

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