AdvertisementAdvertisementA Palestinian man inspects a torched house following Israeli settlers' rampage through nearby Nablus-area villages on Sunday night, in West Bank village of Deir al-Hatab, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)30 Mar 2026 10:09PM (Updated: 30 Mar 2026 10:17PM) Bookmark Bookmark WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedInAdd CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results.Read a summary of this article on FAST.Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try.Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FASTFAST JERUSALEM: Israel's military said on Monday (Mar 30) it had pulled a battalion out of the West Bank after a soldier assaulted a CNN photojournalist last week in a village in the occupied Palestinian territory.A CNN team was reporting on the aftermath of an assault by Israeli settlers and the establishment of an illegal outpost near the Palestinian village of Tayasir on Thursday when they were detained by Israeli soldiers, the Foreign Press Association said in a statement.After the soldiers pointed their guns at the CNN crew, "an IDF soldier approached CNN's photojournalist from behind, placed him in a chokehold, slammed him to the ground, and damaged his camera", said the association, which represents hundreds of journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories.CNN corroborated the details in its own report on the incident, identifying the photojournalist as Frenchman Cyril Theophilos."This was not a misunderstanding ... It was a violent assault on clearly identified journalists and a direct attack on press freedom," the FPA said.A Palestinian man inspects a torched house with a Hebrew graffiti on the sidewall that reads "revenge," following Israeli settlers' rampage through nearby Nablus-area villages, in West Bank village of Deir al-Hatab on Mar 23, 2026. (Photo: AP/Majdi Mohammed)On Monday, the military, in a rare move, withdrew a battalion from the West Bank following the incident."The operational deployment currently being carried out by the reserve battalion will be suspended," it said in a statement."The battalion will remain in reserve service and will undergo a process aimed at reinforcing its professional and ethical foundations."The battalion would resume operational activity once the process is completed, the military added.Hundreds of Israelis protest against war, clash with policeIsraeli fire kills five in Gaza and the West Bank, medics sayIt was the second such incident involving CNN this month.Earlier in March, a CNN producer was left with a fractured wrist following an "unprovoked assault" by Israeli police officers in Jerusalem.Journalists in the West Bank have on numerous occasions been detained, harassed or beaten, with a notable rise in incidents after the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, according to rights groups.Israel has been listed as a "top jailer of journalists" since then, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).The committee said at least 60 Palestinian journalists have been detained or jailed by Israeli forces since the start of the Gaza war.Though foreign journalists are less at risk, soldiers at checkpoints or at sites of breaking news frequently aim their weapons at reporters.Source: AFP/ecSign up for our newslettersGet our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inboxSubscribe hereGet the CNA appStay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best storiesDownload hereGet WhatsApp alertsJoin our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat appJoin hereAlso worth readingContent is loading...Expand to read the full storyGet bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try.Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FASTFAST