The Israel Defense Forces removed an entire battalion from action in the West Bank after soldiers detained and allegedly assaulted a CNN crew, the IDF announced on Monday.
CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond reported that his crew’s photojournalist was assaulted by Israeli soldiers while covering an attack in the West Bank, allegedly by Israeli settlers. Diamond said the IDF detained his crew for two hours in the Palestinian village of Tayasir.
“The soldiers detained the team, after one of the soldiers placed CNN photojournalist Cyril Theophilos in a chokehold, bringing him to ground and damaging his camera,” CNN reported, noting that the ordeal was under investigation by Israel’s military police.
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Diamond relayed in a video that the soldiers pointed their rifles at them as they approached and ordered them to sit. He said he and his team were posing no threat, and he said the outpost established by Israeli settlers was illegal, even under Israeli law.
While the CNN team was detained, a soldier was recorded saying the entire West Bank was “for the Jews” and they were seeking revenge for the recent killing of a settler.
The IDF announced Monday that its “inquiry found several failures in the conduct of the soldiers toward the reporters.”
“In addition, deficiencies were identified in behavioral norms, deviations from IDF orders, and inappropriate communication with members of the press in violation of established procedures,” the IDF posted on social media.
“The IDF respects and enables freedom of the press in the area and regrets the incident,” the IDF continued. “Therefore there was an immediate suspension of the battalion’s operational deployment in the area.”
IDF Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir also condemned the incident in a statement, making it clear the way the CNN crew was treated was unacceptable.
“This is a grave ethical incident that is out of line with IDF norms and values. We all swore the soldier’s oath upon enlistment—weapons are to be used solely for the purpose of carrying out the mission, and never for revenge. We will not accept such incidents within the ranks of the IDF,” Zamir said.
CNN declined additional comment, pointing Fox News Digital to its coverage.
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“The Israeli military’s top general suspended all operational activities of the reserve battalion involved in my team’s detention & assault. The reserve battalion, comprised of hundreds of reservists who served in the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion, will be immediately withdrawn from the West Bank and reassigned to training until further notice,” Diamond wrote on X to accompany a link to CNN’s coverage.
CNN’s coverage added that one soldier was dismissed from military service altogether.
The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
