عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Israel Commits 476 Violations Against Palestinian Journalists in 2020

Caption: Israeli soldiers throw smoke grenades at a group of people including journalists during an annual demonstration in memory of the 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, in Hebron, on 22 February 2019. [HAZEM BADER/AFP]
Caption: Israeli soldiers throw smoke grenades at a group of people including journalists during an annual demonstration in memory of the 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, in Hebron, on 22 February 2019. [HAZEM BADER/AFP]
TT
TT

Israel Commits 476 Violations Against Palestinian Journalists in 2020

Caption: Israeli soldiers throw smoke grenades at a group of people including journalists during an annual demonstration in memory of the 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, in Hebron, on 22 February 2019. [HAZEM BADER/AFP]
Caption: Israeli soldiers throw smoke grenades at a group of people including journalists during an annual demonstration in memory of the 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, in Hebron, on 22 February 2019. [HAZEM BADER/AFP]

The Journalist Support Committee in Palestine documented in its 2020 annual report an increase in Israeli’s assault against freedoms in the occupied Palestinian territories.

According to the report, at least 476 violations of the right to freedom of the press were committed by Israel this year, while 127 violations were committed by Palestinian parties.

This includes crimes of violating the right to life and personal safety of journalists, and beating, violating, and insulting them.

It also highlighted Israeli forces excessive targeting of Palestinian journalists and their deliberate firing of live rubber-coated metal bullets and poisonous gas canisters to keep journalists away from scenes where Israeli forces commit crimes against citizens.

According to the Committee, the Israeli forces continued to raid journalists' homes and media offices, confiscating their equipment, preventing them from covering and traveling, arresting and detaining them, imposing financial fines on a number of them, and deporting others under conditions that restrict their freedom of movement, work, and expression.

The report cited the case of journalist Widad al-Barghouti, who was arrested after Israeli forces raided and searched her home in the village of Kobar, northwest of Ramallah.

The report further called on the United Nations and the countries of the whole world to exercise their moral and legal role in deterring the occupying state inhuman practices against the Palestinian people and journalists, and to provide them with the necessary protection to fulfill their professional, national, and humanitarian role.

Also, the report urged international press institutions to disclose the Israeli practices towards Palestinian journalists on the widest scale, to pressure on the Israeli occupation to stop these violations, and to preserve freedom of journalistic work.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
TT
TT

Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus began on Saturday, Gaza's Health Ministry said, as Palestinians in both the Hamas-governed enclave and the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel's ongoing military offensives.

Children in Gaza began receiving vaccines, the health ministry told a news conference, a day before the large-scale vaccine rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organization. The WHO confirmed the larger campaign would begin Sunday.

“There must be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps in Gaza.

Associated Press journalists saw about 10 infants receiving vaccine doses at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel is expected to pause some operations in Gaza on Sunday to allow health workers to administer vaccines to some 650,000 Palestinian children. Officials said the pause would last at least nine hours and is unrelated to ongoing cease-fire negotiations.

“We will vaccinate up to 10-year-olds and God willing we will be fine,” said Dr. Bassam Abu Ahmed, general coordinator of public health programs at Al-Quds University.

The vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.

Healthcare workers in Gaza have been warning of the potential for a polio outbreak for months. The humanitarian crisis has deepened during the war that broke out after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.

Hours earlier, the Health Ministry said hospitals received 89 dead on Saturday, including 26 who died in an overnight Israeli bombardment, and 205 wounded — one of the highest daily tallies in months.