Before dawn on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, Israeli soldiers arrested Palestinian journalist Amer Abu Arafa, a correspondent for the London-based Quds Press News Agency, at his home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron, according to reports by Quds Press, the Palestinian Authority-owned WAFA news agency, and the Hamas-affiliated news agency Shehab News.

About 30 soldiers arrived in four military vehicles, blindfolded and handcuffed Abu Arafa, raided his home, and then detained him, his wife Safaa al-Hroub told Shehab News. She said IDF forces also seized 24,000 shekels (US$6,980) during the raid.

CPJ could not immediately determine where Abu Arafa was being held or why he was detained.

According to that Quds Press News Agency report, Abu Arafa covers the southern West Bank for that outlet and other Palestinian news organizations. He has recently reported on local politics, Israeli policies toward Palestinians in Jerusalem, and the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

Starting in 2011, Israeli authorities detained Abu Arafa for nearly two years without charge after he reported on Israeli forces’ arrests of 120 Hamas members, as CPJ documented at the time. He was also detained by Palestinian Authority forces in 2017.

WAFA reported that Abu Arafa’s arrest was part of a larger campaign of Israeli raids in the West Bank on Tuesday. IDF soldiers have conducted near-daily raids in Palestinian cities and towns since a series of attacks by Palestinian suspects on Israelis earlier this year, according to The Associated Press.