JERUSALEM — Israeli border police on Tuesday briefly detained a pair of Washington Post journalists, including the newspaper’s bureau chief, as they were reporting on recent violence in east Jerusalem. The men were quickly released and the Israeli government issued an apology.

The incident came against the backdrop of a series of tense encounters between Israeli authorities and the international media. Officials have accused the foreign media of anti-Israel bias in coverage of the past five months of violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Post’s Jerusalem bureau chief, William Booth, said he was interviewing Palestinian youths at Damascus Gate, an entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City, when he and the paper’s West Bank correspondent, Sufian Taha, were detained. The area has been the scene of violence in recent days.

Booth said that after presenting their government-issued press cards to an officer, he and Taha were taken to a police station and held for roughly half an hour before they were released. He said an officer told them they had been suspected of ‘‘incitement,’’ but said there had been a misunderstanding and freed them. He said there was no questioning or rough treatment.

The Israeli police said a passerby had complained that people in the area were ‘‘directing Arab youths to stage provocations’’ in the area and that a number of suspects were detained.

Associated Press