Israeli forces release Palestinian journalist Abed Abou Shhadeh

Israeli authorities released Palestinian journalist Abed Abou Shhadeh after five days in detention without charge at a Shin Bet intelligence facility in Petah Tikva. He was detained on suspicion of “contact with a foreign agent” and, according to the legal rights group Adalah, suspected of receiving foreign money to support Israel’s Arab voters. His lawyer, Hadeel Abu Salih, said the suspicions rested on a public conversation with Palestinian intellectual Azmi Bishara and that political discussion by Palestinians was being criminalised. After his release, Abou Shhadeh called his detention a political measure intended to intimidate Arab society and said he would continue working as a journalist.