Hezbollah detains prominent German journalist after livestream on Israeli TV

After recently leaving Lebanon, German journalist Paul Ronzheimer revealed that he was blindfolded, handcuffed and detained by Lebanese security forces after joining a livestream with an Israeli TV channel.

The deputy chief editor of Germany’s largest-circulation daily BILD spoke about his arrest and subsequent release on his podcast, after returning to Germany from a reporting trip in Lebanon.

His story highlights the extent of Hezbollah’s control over the country, as well as its limitations, as Israeli strikes eliminated most of the terror group's leadership in recent weeks.

The day after Ronzheimer arrived in the country, he received approval from Hezbollah to report in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut from the funeral of Ibrahim Qubaisi, the former head of Hezbollah's missile and rocket force, who was recently assassinated by Israel Defense Forces.

כעת ניתן לספר שכתב המלחמות של העיתון הגרמני הנפוץ BILD, פול רונצהיימר, נעצר בביירות ביום שלאחר חיסול נסראללה לאחר שהתראיין לתכנית ״חדשות שישי״ עם מואב ורדי בשידור חי מביירות. pic.twitter.com/IyUq25tdOz

— Dov Gil-Har (@DovGilHar) October 9, 2024

The next day, Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a massive airstrike in Dahiyeh, only several kilometers from where Ronzheimer was staying. As a well-connected veteran war reporter, he was asked by several media outlets, including Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, to report live from Beirut.

At breakfast the following morning, another journalist alerted Ronzheimer that his picture was being circulated in Hezbollah-affiliated WhatsApp groups.

Hezbollah was searching for him for allegedly violating some of the terror group’s journalist restrictions and for working with a TV channel from the Israeli enemy.

Shortly after, five unknown men came to his hotel room, seized all of his electronics, and then led Ronzheimer and his photographer to a car, driving them to an unknown location for a “routine interrogation.”

They were taken into an unmarked building, which Ronzheimer said probably belonged to Lebanon’s military intelligence, and were investigated for several hours before being handcuffed, blindfolded and taken to another location.

There, they were investigated again for several hours, especially about the livestream with Israel, Ronzheimer’s past reports from Israel and his interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his report from the Hezbollah funeral.

“They never said, ‘We believe you’re a spy,’ but they posed questions over questions,” Ronzheimer said. After the investigation, he was detained a jail cell.

Later that evening, he was released, after the German embassy in Beirut intervened.

"I think it was a political decision," Ronzheimer said. “Everyone told me that when Hezbollah suspects a journalist of something, and they are in an area that is being controlled by the government, unlike for example Dahiyeh…then Hezbollah has very close ties to the military intelligence, which comes and investigates…on the order of Hezbollah.”

Despite the incident, Ronzheimer continued to report from Beirut for another week before returning to Germany.

“Regardless of the incident, that we were arrested and interrogated there and also spent time in prison, it is currently incredibly difficult for many reporters to report from the places that are really important,” he said.

Ronzheimer stressed that he left Lebanon because he didn’t receive permission report from the southern border with Israel or other Hezbollah-controlled areas of Lebanon.

Despite it all, Ronzheimer made clear: “Of course, I will continue to report on this war.”