Quds News Network

Damascus (Quds News Network)- French journalist Sylvain Mercadier was detained for over four hours, during which he was "threatened and humiliated" by Israeli forces while reporting on their advance in Syria. Mercadier was reportedly in the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra where Israeli forces have been seizing additional territory beyond what they already occupied of the Golan Heights. In a post on X, Mercadier described how he and Syrian lawyer, Mohammed al-Fayyad were arrested by Israeli forces in the village of Hamidiye while filming. "We were handcuffed and blindfolded, brought to the governorate's house and mistreated for more than four hours," he said, adding that the pair were "threatened and humiliated". Mercadier said he was beaten "on the ground," and that al-Fayyad was hit "on the back of the skull by a gun stock". He noted that after all of this, they “were dropped in a field where our restraints were removed. The Israeli stole my sim card, my camera memory cards as well as 200 USD from Mohammed. We walked for 30 min before being reaching a house.” The French journalist said that when the Israeli ordered them to stop filming, “we stopped. When they searched the car, we let them do, but when they wanted to confiscate a laptop in the car,” al-Fayyad protested and they were "immediately arrested".

Hi Everyone,
Today, alongside my fixer Mohammed al Fayyad, I was arrested by the Israeli army in the village of Hamidiye . We were handcuffed and blindfolded, brought to the governorate's house (muhafaza) and misstreated for more than 4 hours.
We were threatened and humiliated
— Sylvain Mercadier (@Sylv_Mercadier) January 8, 2025

A Syrian journalist who was also on the scene said Mercadier was wearing a 'Press' bulletproof vest. "Despite that, when the soldiers got to him, they confiscated his equipment, then beat him and called him a 'mercenary,'" Yousuf Gharibi told Marianne. "They blindfolded him and took him away by force with the Syrian lawyer Mohammad Fayad in a car." Marie Mesmeur, an MP for the left-wing La France Insoumise party, said French President Emmanuel Macron must intervene to see Mercadier released. "His arrest, which aims to intimidate, is unacceptable," she wrote on X, adding "Israel does not have all the rights, it is time for this to stop!"

L’armée israélienne doit libérer immédiatement le journaliste français @Sylv_Mercadier @datirachida et @EmmanuelMacron doivent l’exiger avec force

Son arrestation qui vise à intimider est inacceptable.

Israël n’a pas tous les droits, il est temps que cela cesse ! https://t.co/5lAdXgl5G3
— Marie Mesmeur (@MarieMesmeur) January 8, 2025