During the past month of August, there were 80 violations of media freedoms in the Palestinian territories. These violations consisted of 16 attributed to the Israeli occupation forces, 58 related to social media platforms targeting Palestinian content, and an additional 6 violations by Palestinian security agencies.
A report from the Palestinian Journalists Forum on the state of media freedoms in August 2023 revealed that Israeli violations included physical attacks on journalists, resulting in injuries among them. The report also stated that these ongoing violations reflect a continued pattern of suppressing journalistic freedom and restricting freedom of opinion and expression, contrary to international laws, human rights conventions, and principles of human rights. These actions are seen as part of the Israeli occupation's efforts to hide its crimes from the international community.
Israeli violations included threats against an Israeli paramedic working with the Red Crescent, who is also a photojournalist named Nasser Ishtayeh, with shots fired in his direction while he was covering events in the West Bank's Jordan Valley. The Israeli courts issued an actual prison sentence against Jerusalem-based journalist Ramzi Al-Abbasi for one year and one day. Israeli forces also stormed the home of journalist Diala Jouihan in the Thawri neighborhood of Jerusalem, vandalizing her property under the pretext of a house search.
Israeli authorities expelled journalist Ahmed Safadi from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for one month. Additionally, journalist Hagg Beni Mufleh was injured by a tear gas canister during coverage of events in the town of Beitah. Several other journalists, including Abdullah Al-Bahsh, Shadia Bani Shamsiya, Hisham Abu Shaqra, Ayman Qawarik, Yazan Hamaileh, Jivara Al-Badairy, Sadiq Rayyan, Nasser Nasser, and Khaled Badeer, were attacked at the Huwara checkpoint, with most journalists being prevented from reaching the town of Huwara to cover events.
Israeli forces obstructed the work of Palestine Television's crew and its journalist Badr Najm during their coverage of events in Huwara. They also detained journalist Khaled Badeer and photographer Shadi Jararaa at the Zaatara checkpoint, hindering their work and subjecting them to body searches. Israeli forces assaulted journalists and prevented them from covering a shooting incident near the "Kiryat Arba" settlement in the southern West Bank, where journalists Yasser Al-Jamal and Sari Jiradat were attacked and detained during their coverage of the shooting.
Journalist Mohammad Qandeel, a photographer for the Source News Network, was injured by a toxic gas bomb during his coverage of Israeli army attacks on protesters in eastern Gaza. Israeli forces prevented journalist Ala'a Al-Rimawi and journalist Mohammad Nazal from traveling to Jordan via the Allenby Crossing. Israeli soldiers also assaulted journalist Mohammad Abu Thabet during his coverage of a march in Beit Dajan, east of Nablus.
Furthermore, Israeli forces detained journalist Najwa Adnan from Al-Aqsa Mosque for several hours, arrested Jerusalem-based journalist Ahmed Jalajel, and detained several other journalists while preventing others from reaching the site of a house demolition in the Al-Bireh area, east of Hebron. An Israeli court sentenced journalist Ibrahim Abu Safiyeh, who is an imprisoned journalist, to 24 months of actual imprisonment and a fine of 2000 shekels. Journalist Yusuf Al-Sharawneh was arrested in Dura, south of Hebron, after his home was raided at dawn.
Regarding digital violations, the Youth Media Center reported 58 violations by the administrations of social media platforms targeting Palestinian content during August. This included the banning of 17 phone numbers through the WhatsApp application within groups that shared Palestinian content. Additionally, 21 accounts of activists and users were deleted on Facebook for alleged violations of publishing rules, 9 TikTok accounts were deleted for sharing prohibited content, 4 Instagram accounts were deleted for violating publishing rules, and 7 accounts on "Ex-Twitter" were deleted for sharing inciting content.
