French journalist detained by Israel in Syria

French journalist Sylvain Mercadier has been arrested by Israeli forces in Syria while covering the army's advance in the country.

Mercadier, who has written for Middle East Eye, was in the Syrian province of Quneitra where Israeli forces have been seizing additional territory beyond what they already controlled of the Golan Heights.

According to French outlet Marianne, to which he contributed, Mercadier was accompanied by a Syrian lawyer named Mohammad Fayad at the time of his arrest, which took place in the village of al-Hmidaiah.

A Syrian journalist who was also on the scene said Mercadier was arrested while negotiating permission to film the Israeli forces that were arriving in the village.

"He was wearing a 'Press' bulletproof vest. Despite that, when the soldiers got to him, they confiscated his equipment, then beat him and called him a 'mercenary,'" Yousuf Gharibi told Marianne.

"They blindfolded him and took him away by force with the Syrian lawyer Mohammad Fayad in a car."

MEE contacted the Israeli army for comment, but received no response by time of publication.

Marie Mesmeur, an MP for the left-wing La France Insoumise party, said French President Emmanuel Macron must intervene to see Mercadier released.

"His arrest, which aims to intimidate, is unacceptable," she wrote on X.

"Israel does not have all the rights, it is time for this to stop!"

Hours after rebels led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled Bashar al-Assad’s government on 8 December, Israel began moving troops further into Syrian territory and bombing targets across the country.

Israeli troops invaded from the Golan Heights, a Syrian plateau that Israel has occupied since 1967 and annexed the territory in 1981, a move recognised by the US but deemed illegal under international law.

Israel says it is protecting its borders from turmoil in Syria, but critics say it is looking to expand and settle more territory.