Israel Demolishes House Near Bethlehem

Israel Arrest Palestinian Journalist and Drop Site Contributor Mohammed Awad

• marwan
• August 13, 2026

Israeli forces have arrested Palestinian journalist and Drop Site contributor, Mohammad Awad, 38, from his hometown of Bitunia, west Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, early Wednesday morning. Two other Palestinians were arrested after raiding and searching their homes in the nearby city of Al-Bireh, according to the Wafa news agency. Israeli soldiers first raided an apartment in a different neighborhood that Awad’s family had moved out of months earlier, breaking down the door only to find it empty, Awad’s wife Eman told Al-Araby. They then went on foot to the family’s current home and pounded on the door until Awad opened it. He was blindfolded, handcuffed behind his back, and forced to walk down five flights of stairs before being taken away in a military jeep in a scene captured on video. Awad’s reporting for Drop Site has covered escalating violence by Israeli settlers across the West Bank, including the burning of a mosque in Qusra, south of Nablus, and an attack in Masafer Yatta last week that wounded five Palestinians and burned four homes. With his detention, the number of Palestinian journalists held in Israeli prisons has risen to 40, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. Israel has killed more than 260 journalists since it began its genocide in Gaza, two of whom died in Israeli prisons according to Drop Site News.