Report: 192 Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists in 2016

There were 192 cases of Israeli violations committed against journalists in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2016, a report by the Palestinian news agency WAFA revealed yesterday.

The report said the Israeli occupation authorities “have relentlessly worked to shut down the Palestinian media outlets by taking a series of repressive measures that hinder the operations of Palestinian and foreign journalists in order to cover up their daily crimes against the Palestinian people.”

The violations include arrests, shootings, beatings, restrictions on movement and travel, holding journalists at checkpoints, raiding media institutions and a range of other violations.

The report said that in March 2016 the Israeli forces killed Palestinian media student Iyad Omar Sadjadah, 22, when they stormed of Qalandia refugee camp and shot him in the head.

As many as 52 Palestinian journalists were wounded by rubber bullets and tear gas, beatings and other attacks over the past year, while 129 journalists were subjected to arrest and detention. The report documented ten cases of assault on press institutions and equipment.

The report condemned the Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists and media institutions and called on the international community and local and international human rights organisations to put pressure on Israel to stop its attacks and violations against journalists and freedom of the press.