German envoy 'worried' as Israeli police arrest journalist in West Bank

The German ambassador to Israel on Tuesday said he was "worried" after a correspondent for a German newspaper was detained by Israeli Police in the West Bank.

Steffen Seibert said reporter Christian Meier from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (faz) faced "unjustified detention" when "extremist settlers" harassed him in the Palestinian territory, reported dpa.

"It is not journalists who disturb the peace," added Seibert.

Meier was held in the West Bank on Friday and only released after several hours in custody, faz said on Monday.

The correspondent had been investigating attacks on Palestinian shepherds with a group of Israeli human rights activists when the group was reportedly harassed by Israeli settlers.

Meier was allegedly forced to sign a document stating that he would not return to the West Bank for two weeks.

Press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders called the incident an "unacceptable and arbitrary encroachment on the freedom of the press."

In a statement to the faz, the German Foreign Office said it "condemns the completely unfounded and unlawful detention."