Israel Arrests US Journalist Who Documented Damage From Iran Missile Strike
Update (9:00pm ET): According to a Thursday evening social media post from The Grayzone, Israeli police continue to hold journalist Jeremy Loffredo "on suspicion of serious security offenses for publicly publishing... the locations of missile drops near or inside sensitive security facilities, with the aim of bringing this to the notice of the enemy and thereby assisting them in their future attacks."
A judge had ordered him released on the grounds that Israeli censors had approved the reporting of Loffredo's arrest and the information that Loffredo reported, and thus authorities "could "no longer justify his continued detention." However, the police have appealed, and Loffredo remains jailed.
"The claim that Loffredo and The Grayzone represent Israel’s enemy in wartime merely suggests that the Israeli government views the American people and free press as a legitimate target," The Grayzone wrote, and encouraged concerned Americans to "contact the State Department and urge them to act in defense of their citizen detained in Israel." In a separate post, editor-in-chief Max Blumenthal directed followers to email the embassy at JerusalemACS@state.gov.
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According to alternative media outlet The Grayzone, the State of Israel has arrested US citizen and Grayzone investigative reporter Jeremy Loffredo just days after he defied censors by posting a report on Iran's ballistic missile strike, to include documenting the precise location of an apparent impact close to the headquarters of the country's principal intelligence agency, the Mossad.
"I’ve just learned that @loffredojeremy was among the journalists arrested by the Israeli military and is still in jail," said Grayzone founder and editor-in-chief Max Blumenthal via social media. "His phone has been confiscated. That is all I’m able to say for now." On Wednesday at midday, Grayzone journalist Aaron Maté wrote that Loffredo had already been held for more than 24 hours.
Russian independent journalist Andrey X said he and Loffredo were among five journalists grabbed by Israeli security forces, with all but Loffredo having been released. No details have yet surfaced about where or why they were arrested.
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.
On Oct. 1, Iran unleashed multiple waves of ballistic missiles on Israel in retaliation for Israel's assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of the Lebanese political and military organization Hezbollah, and Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Abbas Nilforoushan, among others. Despite compelling video evidence that many of those missiles found their targets, Israel downplayed the effect of the Iranian strike while simultaneously declaring it illegal to report on where missiles hit.
Undaunted, Loffredo set out to find missile impact sites, and filed a 6-minute video report to The Grayzone's YouTube channel, which has nearly 400,000 followers, and to its Rumble channel. In addition to showing the remains of an Iranian missile near Israel's Nevatim Airbase in the Negev desert, Loffredo was able to find what is almost certainly a huge missile blast site less than a thousand feet from Mossad headquarters.
"This information is missing from all Israeli media reports, due to the fact it's been officially censored," said Loffredo in his report, before showing the precise longitude and latitude of the impact site.
When it comes to challenging Israeli government narratives, The Grayzone has been among the most intrepid outlets in journalism. It was among the first to report on evidence that many Israeli deaths during the Oct 7, 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel were inflicted by the Israeli Defense Forces. The Grayzone was also quick to credibly challenge near-universally-accepted claims that Hamas militants beheaded babies, burned babies in ovens, cut a fetus from its mother, and engaged in mass rape. On the anniversary of Oct. 7, the outlet released a 44-minute documentary: "Atrocity Inc: How Israel Sells the Destruction of Gaza."
Loffredo's previous reporting from Israel included a set of candid and, to some, disturbing interviews with nationalist Israelis who were blocking humanitarian aid for war-ravaged Gaza. While it's not clear why, it's currently not possible to link directly to Loffredo's posts on X/Twitter or to embed them.
Journalism is not a crime.
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 20, 2024
I will continue to stand strong for press freedom in Russia and worldwide, and stand against all those who seek to attack the press or target journalists.
President Biden claims to stand for press freedom around the world. Let's see if his administration takes a stand against Israel on behalf of this American journalist...or instead shrugs and redistributes a few more billion dollars of American wealth to the perpetrators. In the meantime, watch Loffredo's last report before he was seized and locked up: