Palestinian photographers are claiming that undercover Israeli security officers have been posing as photojournalists covering the recent Muslim demonstrations in Jerusalem.

Awad Awad, chairman of the Palestinian Photojournalists Committee, said a group of local residents had confirmed the presence of an Israeli police unit known to imitate Arab civilian dress, as well as Israeli security personnel posing as photojournalists and then arresting protesters.

Residents of the Ras al-Amud neighborhood told the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms that they witnessed Israeli agents carrying cameras and disguised as photojournalists arresting "several" young men who participated in demonstrations last Thursday and Friday. The Center for Development and Media Freedoms claimed residents of the area have reported identical incidents.

The Israel Police said the rumors were baseless. The Israel Police is known to employ undercover officers dressed to look like Palestinians, a tactic that goes back at least as far as the first intifada. Claims of Israeli officers posing as members of the press or medical personnel, however, are much more rare, and have led to campaigns by Israeli and foreign press associations to ban the practice. (Jerusalem Post)