Israeli journalist held while trying to sneak into Egypt
He was caught while reporting on African migrants
Occupied Jerusalem: Egyptian security officials arrested an Israeli journalist as he tried to sneak across the porous Israeli-Egyptian border with African migrants, his newspaper reported yesterday.
An Egyptian security official said the Israeli had no identification papers or money but told his investigators he was reporting on African migrants sneaking into Israel from Egypt.
The Haaretz newspaper identified the man as one of its reporters, Yotam Feldman, but said he had taken a leave of absence to work on a story for an Israeli TV station.
A statement from the station, Channel 10, confirmed that Feldman was preparing a feature on "the infiltration of refugees into Israel" and said the station was in direct contact with the Israeli embassy in Cairo and the Israeli military.
The Israeli military said it was trying to secure the man's release. A medical official in the Egyptian city of Rafah said the 30-year-old Israeli hurt his hand on the barbed wire fence as he tried to cross the border.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the arrest.
Smugglers help thousands of African migrants to cross into Israel every year from Egypt. Would-be border crossers travel thousands of miles and pay about $400 to Bedouin smugglers to sneak them across the border on foot, according to Israeli groups who try to help the migrants.
