Hamas Keeps British Journalist in Gaza

Palestinian student supporters of the Islamist movement Hamas shout slogans as they march in Gaza City on March 2, during a rally against an Israeli plan to renovate two deeply contested holy sites in the occupied West Bank. Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

Iran-supported Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza strip since 2007, decided to keep British journalist Paul Martin for 15 more days on suspicion of “[violating] Palestinian law and the security in Gaza,” Associated Press reported.

Martin was arrested on Feb. 14, allegedly for having his name confessed by Mohammed Abu Muaileq during interrogation. Muaileq is thought by Hamas to have cooperated with Israel and he appeared in Martin’s documentary film which was shot in 2008.
Hamas is a declared terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States, Israel, Canada, and Australia.

The Israeli Foreign Press Association urged Hamas to immediately release Martin. He is not the first journalist to be seized in Gaza. Among others, BBC’s Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston was held in Gaza for four months in 2007.