BBC team detained by Israeli forces in southern Syria

On the morning of May 9, I was part of the BBC Arab team, which left the Syrian Damascus capital for the Southern Proraa province. From there, we planned to go to the border with Israeli gallons.

We wanted to approach the Syrian territory, which was confiscated by the Israeli military since December, when the Israeli Prime Minister said he was slightly controlled by the demilitarized buffer zone and neighboring areas after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

We were with a seven -year team (British citizen), two Iraqi BBC staff and four Syrians – three freelancers and one BBC operator.

We shot near one of the UN observers who watched the observation forces (Undof), near the city of Al-Rofid, when an official from the UN told us that the Israeli side asked about our personality and informed that we were the BBC crew.

Next, we went north towards the city of Kuneitra, located in the buffer zone after the 1974 separation agreement between Syria and Israel, which captured Golan during the War in the Middle East of 1967.

About 200 m (660 feet) from the city, not a security checkpoint blocked the road. In the direction of the checkpoint we noticed the Merkava tanks, one of which flew by the Israeli flag.

From the nearby tower, two Israeli soldiers watched us – one of them through binoculars – and my colleague kept the BBC ID for them.

The BBC complained to the Israeli military about what happened next to my team, but he has not yet received a response.

A minute after we started shooting in the area, a white car approached on the other hand.

Four Israeli soldiers left the car and surrounded us. They directed the rifles on their heads and ordered us to place the camera on the side of the road. I tried to explain that we were the BBC crew, but everything unexpectedly grew.

I managed to send a message to my BBC colleagues in London, which states that we were stopped by Israeli military before our phones and all the equipment were confiscated, more Israeli soldiers arrived at the Humvee military vehicle, and our car was carefully revised.

The soldiers led us through the barrier to the city of Quneitra and stopped at the point of crossing, which separates Quneitra from the occupied Goan. There the soldiers began to consider the footage when we were sitting in our car, and one directed a rifle in my head. After more than two hours, one of the soldiers asked me to get out of the car and perform on the mobile phone.

I didn’t know who the person is on the line. He spoke to the Arabian Lysk. He asked why we were shooting Israeli military positions. I told him I was a British BBC journalist and explained to him the character of our work. I returned to my car and the rifle was again directed at my head.

After another waiting hour, another vehicle arrived. A group of security officers left the car with tied eyes and plastic fasteners and asked me to get out first.

The presenter, who spoke freely in the Palestinian Arab dialect, took my hand towards one of the rooms at the intersection point previously used by the Syrian army. The floor was scattered with broken glass and garbage. He told me that they would treat me in a different way – neither handcuffs nor tied eyes – unlike the rest of my team.

I was shocked. I asked why they were doing it when we knew we are a BBC crew.

He said he wanted to help us get out quickly and that we had to follow their instructions.

A few minutes later, another officer entered and told me to remove all the clothes except underwear. I initially refused, but they insisted and threatened me, so I did. He looked even inside my linen, both in front and behind, searched my clothes, and then ordered me to return them and started questioning me – including personal questions about my children and their ages.

When they eventually released me out of the room, I witnessed the horrific scene of my team members, linked and blindfolded. I asked the officer to release them, and he promised to do so after interrogation. They were taken one by one in the same room for search and interrogation.

They returned, with their hands still tied, but did not tie their eyes. The interrogation of the team lasted more than two hours, during which all our phones and laptops were surveyed, and many photos – including personal ones – were removed.

The officer threatened us with the worst consequences when we again approached the border from the Syrian side, and said that they knew everything about us, and they would track us down if some hidden or non-published photo was ever published.

About seven hours after our detention – it was 21:00 – we were taken by two vehicles, one in front of our car, and the other behind, in the rural territory about 2 km (1.2 miles) outside Quneitra. There the vehicles stopped there, and the bag containing our phones was thrown to us before the vehicles are gone.

Laughing in the darkness without a signal, without the Internet and the concept of where we are, we continued to drive until we reached a small village.

A group of children sent us to the highway, warning that the wrong turn could attract Israeli fire. Ten strenuous minutes we found the road. Forty -five minutes after that, we were in Damascus.