French journalist and crew arrested by Israeli forces in southern Syria

French journalist Sylvain Mercadier and his colleague Syrian lawyer Mohammad Al-Fayyad were detained and mistreated by Israeli occupation forces in Quneitra, Syria.

In a post on X, Sylvain described how he and Mohammed were arrested by Israeli forces in the village of Hamidiye while filming. He said they were handcuffed and blindfolded, brought to the governorate's house and mistreated for more than four hours, getting threatened and humiliated before release.

Mercadier said he was beaten "on the ground," and that Fayyad was hit "on the back of the skull by a gun stock .He added that the Israeli forces stole his sim card, camera memory cards and $200 from Fayyad.

The IDF claimed in a statement that the journalist had come “too close” to soldiers, but Sylvain assured that they cooperated with the Israeli forces till they arrested them. Since the fall of Assad, Israel has intensified its military operations in Syria, occupying and incrusting several sites along the border, violating the 1974 armistice.