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Israel Charges Al-Jazeera Journalist With Belonging to Hamas

The mother of Palestinian journalist Samer Allawi, head of Al-Jazeera's Kabul office, holds a picture of him at his family house in the village of Sebastia in the West Bank after Israel arrested Allawi, as he tried to cross to Jordan from the West Bank, w

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Last updated on: August 15, 2011 8:00 PM

Israel is holding a journalist for the al-Jazeera television network on charges that he belongs to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Al-Jazeera's Kabul bureau chief Samer Allawi appeared before an Israeli military judge Tuesday and was told of the accusations. He denied the charges.

Al-Jazeera's Arabic-language network said Israeli authorities arrested Allawi on August 10 as he tried to leave the Israeli-occupied West Bank for Jordan. It says Allawi had been vacationing at his home village of Sebastia prior to his arrest. He carries a Jordanian passport.

_{Mohamed Abdel Dayem, Committee to Protect Journalists, spoke with Susan Yackee about the case of Samer Allawi:}

The journalist's family told his employers that Israel informed them his arrest was "security-related."

Israeli authorities have confirmed the arrest, but refused to comment further.

Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. Israel, the United States and the European Union consider the group to be a terrorist organization.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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