Israeli authorities have detained investigative journalist Jeremy Loffredo following his groundbreaking report that exposed extensive damage to Israeli military bases struck by Iranian missiles last week.
Late last week, Loffredo released a video report on the YouTube channel of the Grayzone, an American independent news website and blog. The report demonstrated that Israeli authorities largely concealed the true extent of the damage inflicted on the regime’s bases following Operation True Promise II.
On October 1, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) launched hundreds of ballistic missiles towards the Israeli military, espionage and intelligence bases all over the occupied territories.
Operation True Promise II came in response to the regime’s assassination of Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas in Tehran, Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoushan, an Iranian military advisory in Lebanon, in Beirut.
To prepare his report on the Israeli bases hit by Iran, Loffredo, an independent journalist based in New York City, traveled to the Israeli-occupied territories and documented several impact sites that had not been reported by Israeli authorities, including areas near the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv.
On Wednesday, American journalist and filmmaker Max Blumenthal, the Grayzone editor, announced on his X account that Loffredo was among several journalists detained by Israeli authorities.
“I’ve just learned that @loffredojeremy was among the journalists arrested by the Israeli military and is still in jail. His phone has been confiscated. That is all I’m able to say for now,” Blumenthal said.
I’ve just learned that @loffredojeremy was among the journalists arrested by the Israeli military and is still in jail.
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) October 9, 2024
His phone has been confiscated.
That is all I’m able to say for now. https://t.co/PauUyAD2lF
Blumenthal shared a post from independent Russian Jewish journalist Andrey X, who reported that he was beaten and blindfolded earlier that day by Israeli forces before being taken to a military base with four other journalists.
“Today I was beaten, kidnapped, blindfolded and taken to a military base by the Israeli Occupation Forces, together with 4 other journalists. Two of us were held for 11 hours without charges, my phone was confiscated (stolen), and one of us is still in custody. Full story soon,” Andrey X said on his X account.
Today I was beaten, kidnapped, blindfolded and taken to a military base by the Israeli Occupation Forces, together with 4 other journalists.
— Andrey X (@the_andrey_x) October 8, 2024
Two of us were held for 11 hours without charges, my phone was confiscated (stolen), and one of us is still in custody.
Full story soon.
The Israeli regime has intensified its clampdown on journalists, especially Palestinians reporters, since it started its genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.
So far, Israel has killed more than 150 journalists, while dozens of others are still languishing in Israeli jails.