An American journalist has reportedly been detained by Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank while reporting on a march by Israeli settlers in the Old City of Hebron.
According to Palestinian anti-settlement activist Issa Amro, cited by Turkish news agency Anadolu, journalist and podcaster Eric Maddox was "filming settlers’ violations in Hebron" when he was assaulted by settlers.
Amro stated that Maddox had been documenting a "provocative march" by dozens of extremist settlers when he was attacked by the settlers and later arrested by Israeli troops.
Palestinian media also released footage of the journalist’s arrest, showing him surrounded by Israeli soldiers who forcibly detained and handcuffed him.
In the video, Maddox is seen shouting his full name and place of residence - California, United States - after a bystander asked for his information on record as he was being taken away by Israeli forces.
There have yet to be verified updates on Maddox’s condition since his arrest.
Amro, co-founder of the grassroots group Youth Against Settlements, stated that the targeting of Maddox signalled that "the [Israeli] occupation doesn’t want the documentation and disclosure of what’s happening in Hebron to the world."
The activist himself faced harassment from Israeli troops and settlers earlier this month following his appearance in British investigative journalist Louis Theroux’s BBC documentary The Settlers, which highlighted the plight of Palestinians in the West Bank.
Amro shared footage online showing armed soldiers and settlers raiding his home in Hebron.
In a 3 May post on X, he said police threatened to arrest him and warned him not to file a complaint- calling it yet another example of Israeli-imposed apartheid in the West Bank.
The harassment of Maddox and Amro followed an attack on Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, by Israeli settlers at his home in the West Bank village of Susiya in late March.
The assault on Ballal was also seen as retaliation for the film’s international recognition and its portrayal of Palestinian struggles under Israeli occupation.
Settler attacks and Israeli military raids have surged across the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 934 Palestinians in the West Bank since then.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and its settlements in the territory are considered illegal under international law.