American journalist Jeremy Loffredo is being detained and prosecuted by Israeli forces for doing journalism
If you pray, please say a prayer for Jeremy Loffredo.
You can also email the US Embassy in Jerusalem and demand his release: JerusalemACS@state.gov
From his colleague, Aaron Maté:
According to Israel’s @ynetnews, Israel is charging US journalist Jeremy Loffredo with “aiding the enemy during wartime and providing information to the enemy” for reporting on the Israeli military targets hit by Iran earlier this month. Israel is detaining and prosecuting an American journalist for doing journalism. Will his media colleagues defend him?
From Glenn Greenwald:
I realize many Americans have a deep, overarching, unyielding love for the foreign country of Israel, but Jeremy Loffredo is an American and a journalist (a very good one), being imprisoned with no trial by Israel for his reporting. Maybe he deserves some consideration, too?
You can watch Jeremy’s last report (October 6) posted on X here, transcribed below.
I’m Jeremy Loffredo for the Greyzone in Isreal, where last night Iran fired over 200 ballistic missiles in retaliation for the assassinations of Lebanese and Iranian political and military leadership. Since the missile strikes, Israeli authorities have attempted to downplay the significance of the attacks, censored the locations of missile impacts from media publication, and claimed that Iran was targeting Israeli civilians.
What I saw today here in Israel is clear evidence that Iran was targeting the same Israeli and military infrastructure that’s been used over the past year to carry out brutal assassinations and attacks. The morning after the missile strikes, news reports indicated that one of the principal targets was Nevatim Air base. Nevatim Air Base, located deep in the Negev Desert, is the largest and most critical air force base in Israel. It’s home to 3 squadrons of US supplied Lockheed Martin F35 stealth fighter jets which have played a pivotal role in Israel’s year long air assault on the besieged Gaza strip. And as of two weeks ago, these F35s are also spearheading relentless and devastating strikes in southern Lebanon so far resulting in the deaths of 2,000 civilians. The base is also home to Wings of Zion, the Israeli equivalent of Air Force One.
Video footage taken around 8pm Israel time by Israelis and Palestinian Bedouins who live around the Negev Desert show Nevatim Air Base being hit with at least 10 ballistic missiles.
I drove 70 miles south to the highly sensitive Air Force installation aiming to document the underreported and potentially embarrassing destruction. As I approached the military base, F35 fighter jets were vertically landing at the base, in all likelihood on their way back from killing 30 miles away in Gaza or 100 miles away in Lebanon. The road was separated from the base by more than a mile of desert and miles of steel fencing, so seeing any destruction was impossible.
In the Negev Desert, there are 46 Palestinian Bedouin villages. Eighty-six percent of these villages are “unrecognized by Israel” and face constant demolition orders on any permanent or semipermanent structure, resulting in most of their homes and buildings being built with light material like plywood or sheetmetal. I went village to village asking about the missile strikes. Most Bedouins were suspicious of me, but two young men, who told me the explosion scared their wives and children, claimed they knew where a missile had fallen. They led me there, but they were unwilling to appear on camera due to concerns for their safety.
(footage showing part of the missile shell)
The military took away most of the missile, but there is still a piece left. The missile fell a quarter mile west of Nevatim Air Base and about a quarter mile from the Bedouin village, which is unrecognized by Israel so isn’t supplied with any state-of-the-art bomb shelters like Jewish communities.
Jeremy: Where were people in the communities around here hiding during the (missile) sounds?
Bedouin villager: Some of the people ran to the school. Lots of us went to the bridge underpass. We are not safe because our people have not been given any shelters or safe places to hide.
(footage of underpass)
Palestinian cab driver: Many people sheltered here last night. With the sounds of the rockets they came to hide here.
As night fell, I headed to the heart of Israel’s military and intelligence operations: Tel Aviv. This city is home to the nucleus of the state’s defense apparatus. And by Israel’s own logic, the civilians here could be considered human shields. At the center of this high density urban area lies the headquarters of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency where covert operations, assassinations, espionage and blackmail plots are devised against state enemies.
It’s not just that schools or hospital are nearby, Mossad’s HQ is strategically nestled among them with apartment complexes, tourist hubs and public facilities all around. Rumors had been been circulating online with unverified videos suggesting that the Iranian missile barrage targeted this very headquarters. However, finding the exact impact site was difficult. Israel’s military censor had barred the media from reporting the locations of the missile strikes. Using visual clues from videos circulating online, I set out to locate where the missile may have landed. Driving down a street I believed to be in one of the missile videos I saw a heavily damaged SUV, it’s windshield shattered, debris and concrete caked into the vehicle. Further down this scene unfolded - destroyed vehicles, torn up asphalt and a massive crater roughly 30 feet wide recently filled up with dirt.
(cutting to show proximity) That’s the Mossad headquarters.
The missile had hit less than 1,000 feet from Mossad headquarters. This information is missing from all Israeli media reports due to the fact that it’s been officially censored. (image) Right here are the censored coordinates. Given the proximity to what is considered one of the world’s most advanced intelligence agencies, it seemed clear that Israel was taking extra precautions to conceal the exact impact locations.
As we left the area, an unsettling incident occurred. Our cell phones lost GPS functionality, maps went blank, and then both of our devices, mine and my taxi driver’s suddenly showed we were at Aman’s airport in Jordan. Over 120 miles west.
From the Greyzone in Israel, Jeremy Loffredo.
His account has since been locked.
You can also watch Jimmy Dore’s report here.
Because we love democracy right? Praying for his release. Praying for true peace for all and true freedom for all.
From Max Blumenthal: "I have learned that the district court in Israel has ordered US journalist Jeremy Loffredo to be released from custody but has forbidden him from leaving the country for a period of time
Will update as soon as we know more about these terms" https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1844700093544292616