Honenu Attorneys Gonen (L) and Shimshilashvilli (R); Photo credit: Honenu

Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 7:08 Following separate incidents involving an American journalist and a French diplomat on Friday and Saturday, police arrested numerous individuals whose only apparent connection to the events was their presence in the area. Honenu is representing ten detainees.

On Monday, after detention-extension hearings, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ordered seven of the ten to remain in custody for two additional days. The other three were released to house arrest. Honenu attorneys, having reviewed the investigative materials, say the arrests appear to have been part of a broad police roundup of everyone present in the area that Saturday. The case files contain no evidence that any of the detainees committed an offense.

One of the detainees is a medic who was on duty at the time. He provided a solid, verified alibi: he had gone to the scene to treat the wounded and sent real-time messages documenting his actions. He was nevertheless arrested, and his detention was extended.

Honenu Attorneys Daniel Shimshilashvilli and Assaf Gonen, who plan to file an appeal this morning (Tuesday) against the extended detentions, said after the hearing:

“After reviewing the police’s claims in court, we can state clearly: these are baseless arrests.

“Regarding Saturday’s incident involving the French diplomat, the investigative materials show that he was not injured at all. He also never filed a complaint, and there appears to be a good reason for that.

“Regarding Friday’s incident involving an American journalist, there is no evidence that any of the detainees took part in an attack. Serious accusations have been made, but they require proof—and none exists in the file.

“What the file does contain is footage of the same journalist walking for many minutes alongside masked Arabs carrying slingshots and stones. This raises the question of why a supposedly innocent journalist was remaining with individuals described as terrorists.

“In short, this appears to be another episode in a campaign of smearing and persecution—a mass arrest unrelated to fair legal process. These detentions seem intended to satisfy external pressure. When this minor incident is forgotten, those arrested without cause will still have lost days of their lives, and no one will compensate them for it.

“We again ask the question we raised in court: What was an American journalist doing, accompanied by masked individuals with slingshots, at violent incidents on Friday?”