By Lewis Wiseman, ABC
Israeli military vehicles deploy at Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP/JACK GUEZ
A team of seven BBC journalists and staff claim to have been held at gunpoint, blindfolded and strip searched by the Israeli Defence Force in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The BBC said its crew, which included staff members and three freelancers, were stopped while filming at a checkpoint in Quneitra, inside the buffer zone between Israel and Syria.
"BBC News Arabic correspondent Feras Kilani, along with three other BBC staff members and three freelance colleagues, were detained for seven hours and held at gunpoint by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF)," a BBC statement said.
"The team have described how they were tied up, blindfolded, strip searched, interrogated and threatened."
BBC Arabic special correspondent Feras Kilani was a part of the crew and described his experience on the BBC website.
He said minutes after starting to film at the checkpoint, four IDF soldiers "pointed their rifles at our heads and ordered us to place the camera on the side of the road."
From there, he claimed he and his crew were escorted by the soldiers through a barrier and into the city of Quneitra where the soldiers reviewed the footage, all while keeping rifles aimed at their heads.
An Israeli soldier walks near the United Nations Quneitra crossing between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and Syria on January 5, 2025. Photo: AFP/JALAA MAREY
The BBC said electronic devices were taken from the team and material was deleted.
After hours passed, Kelani said he was asked "why we were filming Israeli military positions" by a person not known to him on a phone call made by one of the soldiers.
He said he was then separated from his team and told by a lead IDF officer that he had to comply with their instructions.
The first of those demands, he claimed, was to remove all his clothes except for his underwear for a search.
Kelani said soldiers "inspected even inside my underwear, both front and back, searched my clothes, then told me to put them back on and started interrogating me."
After the interrogation, Kelani claimed he was led back outside where he saw "the horrific scene of my team members, tied up and blindfolded".
He claimed he asked officers to release them, but they were each taken inside for a strip search and questioning.
After seven hours of detention by the IDF, Kelani claimed he and his team were told if they approached the frontier from the Syrian side again there would be "worse consequences".
He said the crew were then dropped two kilometres outside the city, given back their electronic devices and left to find their way back.
The BBC has said it "strongly objects to the treatment of our staff and freelancers in this way."
"Despite making clear to the soldiers on multiple occasions they were working for the BBC, the behaviour they were subjected to is wholly unacceptable," the BBC statement said.
The broadcaster said it has registered a complaint with the Israeli military over the incident but has not had a response.
The ABC has contacted the IDF for comment but has not yet received a response.
- ABC
