BBC Accuses IDF of Tying Up, Strip-Searching and Interrogating Staff for Hours ‘at Gunpoint’
David Gilmour Jun 6th, 2025, 8:48 am
(Alamy Live News via AP)
The BBC has lodged a formal complaint with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) after one of its news crews was detained at gunpoint, blindfolded, and strip-searched while reporting near the Syrian-Israeli border.
According to a statement issued by the broadcaster, BBC Arabic correspondent Feras Kilani , a British citizen, along with two BBC colleagues and four Syrian freelancers, were held for seven hours on May 9 while filming in southern Syria near Golan Heights.
“The team have described how they were tied up, blindfolded, strip-searched, interrogated and threatened,” the BBC said, adding that soldiers also confiscated and delet