Ramallah – Ma’an – The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) monitored during the month of March a total of 63 violations against media freedoms in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, most of which were committed by the Israeli occupation. There were 60 violations committed by Israeli parties in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and 3 Palestinian attacks. In the West Bank.
The center said, “For the sixth month in a row, the fires of war are still burning in the Gaza Strip, and attacks continue to affect all civilians in the Gaza Strip, including journalists and workers in the media sector.”
He added, “The month of March witnessed an increase in the number of violations against media freedoms in Palestine, the largest and most dangerous of which were committed by the Israeli occupation. This increase was 34%.”
Israeli violations:
The number of Israeli violations against media freedoms during the month of March increased by 28% over the previous month, and increased fro
m 47 crimes and assaults committed during the month of February to reach 60 crimes during the month of March. Israeli attacks constituted 95% of the total violations during the month.
Most of them were among the serious attacks on the lives of journalists and media freedoms in Palestine, as the occupation forces killed 8 journalists in the Gaza Strip as a result of the continuous bombardment with missiles, and physical attacks constituted the largest number of them (17), and included the injury of 7 journalists by missile fragments during the bombing of a journalists’ tent in the Gaza Strip. Gaza. It also documented the extent of the confiscation of equipment for two journalists and the destruction of equipment for another, 7 cases of arrest in addition to 11 detentions of journalists in the West Bank, while two journalists were removed from the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The occupation soldiers targeted 9 journalists with live bullets to prevent them from covering events and events in the West Bank, and t
he occupation bombing completely destroyed the headquarters of the Press House Foundation. In addition to the above, two journalists were forcibly disappeared, and so far no information has been received about them.
On the other hand, during the month of March last year, on 10/03, the occupation authorities renewed the administrative detention of the wounded journalist Moaz Amarneh for another 4 months after he was scheduled to be released after the end of his first administrative detention. The Israeli occupation court in the ‘Ofer’ camp also decided to confirm the detention sentence. The administrative director of the journalist on Al-Jazeera Mubasher, Sami Al-Saei, for a period of 4 months. The court postponed the program presenter on Radio Alam, Muhammad Al-Atrash, until April 8, and he is being tried on charges of incitement on Facebook.
Palestinian violations:
The documented Palestinian violations during the month of March amounted to 3 violations, representing 5% of the total documented violations.
The violations were limited to the West Bank, while no violations committed by any Palestinian parties, whether in the West Bank or in the Gaza Strip, were documented during the previous months (January and February).
The violations included the intelligence service arresting Maher Haroun, a student of journalism and media at Al-Quds Open University, while covering a march in the city of Ramallah, for three days and beating him. He was subjected to several investigation sessions on charges of calling for marches. The same journalist at Sanad Agency also arrested Ahmed Al-Bitawi while covering a march in downtown Nablus. The Nablus Magistrate Court extended his detention on April 1 for 15 days pending investigation.
Source: Maan News Agency