Gaza, ALRAY - The Palestinian Government Media Office (GMO) has documented 386 Israeli violations against media freedom committed since the start of the year.
In its monthly report, the GMO explained that the Israeli occupation has stepped up its violations against Palestinian media workers over the first half of 2023, particularly in June.
"The Israeli occupation has violently suppressed journalists and media outlets during its aggression against the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem in order to prevent them from covering Israeli crimes against civilians," added the office.
The report recorded more than 92 cases of Israeli occupation forces attacking and targeting journalists – most of whom were wearing helmets and vests marked “PRESS”.
Most such instances took place in June, during which the Israeli occupation army targeted 19 journalists as they were covering the Israeli occupation military's raids into Jenin, Nablus, and Hebron and the weekly anti-occupation protests across the occupied West Bank.
The Gaza-based office also reported instances of Israeli colonial settlers attacking Palestinian media workers, under the protection of the Israeli occupation army.
The report documented 67 cases of the Israeli occupation detaining, summoning, and holding Palestinian journalists over the past six months.
In a bid to suppress media coverage of Israeli human rights abuses, the Israeli occupation banned a number of Palestinian media practitioners from accessing their hometowns, occupied Jerusalem, or the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Others were detained several times, issued jail terms, or held under the so-called administrative detention without charge or trial.
The report pointed to the case of Palestinian journalist Lama Ghousha who is placed under house arrest by the Israeli occupation authorities.
It also documented 141 instances of the Israeli occupation army and colonial settlers blocking media workers from doing their journalistic work, by violently attacking them and destroying their equipment.
Since the start of the year, the Israeli occupation, in coordination with social media giants, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, has been targeting Palestinian content online.
The report recorded some 58 cases of Palestinian social media accounts and pages being removed, restricted, or blocked for allegedly violating "community guidelines".
There were 19 instances of the Israeli occupation army raiding and ransacking Palestinian journalists' homes and media offices and destroying their vehicles and seizing their equipment.
According to the report, nine jailed Palestinian media workers have been subjected to attacks, severe torture, physical and psychological abuse and maltreatment during their imprisonment by the Israeli occupation authorities.
The report highlighted the case of imprisoned writer Walid Daqqa whose health has dramatically deteriorated due to deliberate medical negligence in Israeli occupation prisons.
