Israeli army occupies Jordanian radio and TV offices in Ramallah

    The Israeli army has raided the offices of Jordanian radio and TV in Ramallah (photo) and arrested two Moroccan journalists in the city in the past few days. "After targeting Palestinian journalists, the Israeli army is now preventing Arab journalists from doing their work," Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard said today. "Four months after Operation "Rampart", attacks on press freedom in the Palestinian territories are continuing unabated." The raiding of the Jordanian offices was the 15th time in four months that Israeli troops have occupied a media office. They are also still holding five Palestinian journalists. Jordanian Television (JTV) correspondent Abdallah al-Hoot said the soldiers entered the premises on 8 July "in a provocative way and did not treat us in a humanitarian manner. They threatened us with guns and searched our offices." The soldiers seized film, passports and press cards from the two journalists present, al-Hoot and Akil al-Amr. After intervention by the Jordanian representative in Gaza, Jomaa al-Abbadi, the Israeli authorities returned their documents five hours later but not their film.    This was the second recent incident involving Jordanian journalists working in the Palestinian territories. On 3 June, Mashur Abu Eid, of the Jordanian news agency Petra, was deported from Israel four days after being arrested in Nablus while covering a protest by Western peace activists.  Despite the release on 27 June of Palestinian journalist Maher el-Dessuki, five others are still being held by the Israelis. They are Khalid Ali Zwawi, of the Ramallah-based Al-Quds Educational TV, Kamal Ali Jbeil, of the daily Al-Quds, Hussam Abu Alan (photo), a photographer for Agence France-Presse (AFP), Yusri el-Jamal, a Reuters sound man, and Ayman el-Kawasmi, head of a local radio station, El Horriya, all of them arrested between 15 and 30 April and placed in preventive detention for three months. Jbeil's detention, due to end on 1 July, was extended by three months. On 28 June, an Israeli military court stated that Yusri el-Jamal could go free on 10 July. Two Moroccan journalists, Anas Bensalah and Hassan Bouchenni for Morocco's second public TV station, 2M, were arrested by two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah on 4 July as they were leaving Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters. The soldiers asked them for identification and their passports and took them to the Palestinian culture and arts ministry offices, which have been turned into a detention centre. They asked them what the situation was inside Arafat's headquarters, what he said in their interview with him and what his physical and mental state was. The journalists were freed five hours later without explanation. The Moroccan press union had called on the Israelis to free them at once.