The Ministry of Information monitored 76 violations of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation forces, during the period from 1 March to 31 May 2020, when it targeted the occupation army (23) Journalist, (9) women journalists, and many press crews, in addition to preventing Palestine TV from working in Jerusalem, the Galilee, the Triangle, and the Negev.
The Ministry stated that it had documented these violations during the quarantine period, and had taken preventive measures to counter the Corona virus.
Xinhua News Agency cameraman Nidal Shtayyeh told the Ministry of Information the details of his bullet wound in the left thigh on May 29, 2020, during his coverage of the weekly anti-settlement peaceful march in Kafr Qaddum village, east of Qalqilya city, where the occupation forces suppressed the result, and confrontations broke out. Between the youths and the Israeli occupation forces, he went to convey the media image, wearing the “press” shield, where he took a position away from it and stood on the right side of it, relying on a “power column” that he might protect from the occupation’s bullets. He started photographing the youths on the left side, and as soon as he directed With his lens on the occupation soldiers to photograph their violations against the Palestinian people, a soldier targeted him with a rubber bullet directly and intentionally to prevent him from photographing until he reached his left thigh.
The journalist Shtayyeh confirmed that this injury was number (41) during his professional journalistic career in documenting the violations of the occupation against the Palestinian people, as he was wounded in 2015 by a metal bullet coated with rubber in his eye, as a result of which he had a clear vision, so that the percentage of his eye deficit reached 52%, during his coverage Clashes with the Israeli occupation forces in the town of Hawara, south of Nablus.
In 2016, he was hit with a direct and deliberate gas cannonball in the head, but the press helmet reduced its damage to limit it to a superficial injury to the head, while covering confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces in Kafr Qaddum village, east of Qalqilya.
The journalist Shtayyeh added to the Ministry of Information, "I was subjected to many injuries, including preventing from covering, assaulting, and breaking my cameras. My body penetrated the various occupation bullets, but that did not and will not stop me for a moment from conveying the correct Palestinian media story." The journalist called Shtayyeh the international community to provide protection for journalists to support them. In conveying the truth, as they are being subjected to direct targeting, premeditated by the occupation soldiers, to prevent them from covering the media.
The Ministry monitored (19) cases of arrests of journalists during this period, including the issuance of verdicts of imprisonment, summons, and interrogation, and among the journalists who were arrested during this period: the free journalist Anan al-Shami after his house was raided in the city of Nablus, and the freelance journalist Musab Shawer and was released while After, and the freelance photographer, Muhammad Abu Daqqa, upon his return from Jordan via the Israeli "Erez" military checkpoint, the Israeli occupation forces summoned Al-Maqdisi journalist Annan Najib for investigation and handed him a decision to deport him from occupied Jerusalem and prevent him from practicing his journalistic work in Jerusalem.
The so-called "Salem" Israeli Military Court extended on 3/3/2020 the arrest of the journalist at the "Jerusalem site" Mujahid Bani Muflih, until 3/3/2020, and the Israeli occupation court extended the administrative detention for the second time in a row, for the journalist prisoner Bushra Al-Taweel on 3/29/2020 for a period of 4 months.
The so-called Ofer Military Court of Israel postponed the trial of freelance journalist Sameh Al-Titi until 9/4/2020, who has been detained since 9/9/2019.
On 4/19/2020, the Occupation Court issued a verdict on the journalist prisoner, Sameh Jabr Al-Titi, from Al-Arroub camp in Hebron, for an effective prison term of 6 months, in addition to imposing a fine of 5,000 shekels.
In addition, the Israeli occupation forces detained a Reuters cameraman, Musa Al-Qawasmi, and prevented him from photographing the demolition of a sheep farm near Musafir Yatta, south of Hebron, and confiscating the keys to his car, his ID card and his camera.
On April 16/2020, the occupation intelligence summoned Palestine TV correspondent Christine Al-Renawi, and investigated her work on Palestine TV, and the media messages she transmitted on the TV screen, and through her Facebook page, over the course of 3 hours, and the occupation intelligence threatened and vowed to renew the decision. To prevent it and prevent the work of the television crew in Jerusalem.
The ministry stated in its statement that "the Israeli occupation forces insist on targeting journalists directly in the field, in order to prevent them from conveying the correct Palestinian image, where the Israeli occupation forces assaulted photojournalists Majdi Shtayeh, and Nasser Ashtiyeh was severely beaten, and the latter sustained bruises and bruises, while covering the confrontations. In the town of Ya`bad on May 12, 2020.
The occupation forces also beat photographers Mohammed Enaya and Kamel Al-Qaddoumi during their coverage of the confrontations between the youths and the occupation forces Kafr Qaddum on May 29, 2020, as well as photojournalist Karim Khamayseh while covering the storming of Umm Al-Sharayet neighborhood in Ramallah.
The Ministry also monitored the direct targeting of the Israeli occupation forces of journalists with metal and rubber bullets, namely: Palestine TV correspondent in Nablus Bakr Abdel Haq, with a metal bullet in the leg, and the photojournalist Jaafar Shtayeh with a metal bullet in the leg, and the photographer of the Chinese News Agency, "Nidal Ashtieh, with a rubber bullet in the left thigh. .
The Ministry of Information considered the imposition of the occupation the decision to renew the ban on the work of Palestine TV from working in the city of Jerusalem, Galilee, the Triangle and the Negev on 05/10/2020, to pursue the Palestinian media, as an extension of the open war on the Palestinian media, and to refrain from targeting every free voice.
The Ministry affirms that the Israeli action demonstrates to the world the extent of the occupation´s insistence on arrogance, and targeting national media platforms to block the Palestinian narrative, especially in the city of Jerusalem.
The Ministry of Information said in its statement that the journalists assert that "the occupation forces target them deliberately and directly, as they take distant locations in the field for filming, but the bullets of the occupation are chasing them and injuring their bodies to discourage them from conveying the truth, and the occupation forces insist on arresting them, detaining them and severely assaulting them, in addition to To the deliberate medical negligence of the prisoners, such as the prisoner and the media Mays Abu Ghosh, where her health condition deteriorated due to the torture that she was subjected to during the interrogation by the jailers of the occupation, which led to severe bone and spinal aches. "
The Ministry of Information stressed its support for journalists, denouncing the attacks on their bodies, cameras and media freedom, and affirmed that all these attacks demonstrate the targeting, tying and constraining of journalists to prevent them from conveying the correct Palestinian narrative, and this necessitates the implementation of International Security Council Resolution (2222) concerning the protection of journalists. Four years ago, and to ensure that the Israeli occupation forces and authorities did not go unpunished, which was the call previously made by the Ministry to successive Council Presidents.
Israeli violations during this period ranged in terms of their nature as follows: arrest, summons, and investigation (19), preventing press crews from covering (5), imposing a fine (3), confiscating equipment (2), demolishing a journalist’s home (2), and severely assaulting (5) Deportation from Al-Aqsa Mosque (2), hit by metal and rubber bullets (3), prevented from doing journalistic work (2), program (2) canceled, journalist subjected to medical negligence (1), Palestine TV work was prevented from working in Jerusalem, Galilee, Triangle and Negev (1), blocked on social media (29).
The geographical distribution of these violations varied as follows: Jerusalem (10), Gaza Strip (2), Occupation Prisons (9), Ramallah and Al-Bireh (5), Nablus (3), Jenin (3), Hebron (2), Qalqilya (5) , Occupied interior (3).
