Germany’s Bild news site said on Wednesday that several of its journalists were arrested in Beirut and taken for questioning the day after Hezbollah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...>
’s liquidation and following one correspondent’s live interview with an Israeli broadcaster.
Bild said its correspondent Paul Ronzheimer and his team were taken from their hotel rooms, handcuffed and blindfolded, to an unknown location. It described those who made the arrest as "unknown men," and added that they were said to have been members of Leb
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...’s military intelligence service.
While the outlet didn’t note the reason for the arrests, Hebrew media said that they came a day after Ronzheimer gave a live TV interview to Israel’s Kan public broadcaster. It was possibly the first live broadcast from Beirut on Israeli television since the IDF withdrew from the Lebanese capital in 1982.
Bild said Ronzheimer was released later the same day, after Germany’s embassy in Beirut contacted Lebanese authorities, who intervened. He then continued reporting but decided to leave Lebanon, only after which Bild revealed the ordeal.
"Regardless of the fact that we were arrested, interrogated and imprisoned, it is currently very difficult for many news hounds to report on what is happening," the report quoted Ronzheimer as saying. "I will of course continue to report on this war," he added.
Ronzheimer said Hezbollah hardly issues permits to journalists anymore, according to the Bild report, adding that Belgian news hounds were also beaten and attacked by Hezbollah supporters in Beirut.
The article added that on the morning of his arrest, Hezbollah distributed photos of Ronzheimer via WhatsApp and accused him of violating conditions.
Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah, who led the Iranian-backed terror group through decades of conflict with Israel, was killed in an Israeli
...
KABOOM!...
in Beirut on September 27.
In Ronzheimer’s interview with Kan, he was asked what Lebanese media reports were saying regarding whether or not Nasrallah is dead, to which the journalist responds that "it’s not clear what has really happened there, if Nasrallah is dead or maimed."
The German foreign ministry had already raised its crisis level for missions in Beirut, Ramallah and Tel Aviv. Nevertheless, its embassies have remained operational.
There are currently 1,800 registered German citizens in Leb, a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said.
| Update from the Times of Israel at 5:30 p.m.ET: After American pressure, Mr. Ronzheimer was deported to the U.S., from which experience he has no doubt learnt absolutely nothing. |