Naqaa Hamed detained by Israel, sister says

Naqaa Hamed, a Palestinian-American journalist, was detained by Israeli authorities on Tuesday at the Tequ' checkpoint in Bethlehem as she returned from reporting in the occupied West Bank, her sister and a colleague said.

Her sister, Fatima Bajes Salem, wrote on Facebook that Hamed was detained while returning from covering Palestinians' suffering. Journalist Hamada Mansour, who said he was travelling with Hamed, said soldiers arrested her after stopping her and other reporters, and that the others were allowed to leave.

Mansour said Hamed was working for Turkish public broadcaster TRT. Media reports said she had also worked until recently for Iranian English-language broadcaster Press TV, which identified her as its West Bank correspondent, but Mansour said she was a freelancer who no longer worked for that outlet.

Israeli authorities have not commented. Israel's Ynet news site cited unidentified Israeli military sources as saying Hamed is suspected of cooperating with an enemy entity and may also be suspected of espionage.