Ramallah - (5-19-2021) - The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) denounces the persistence of the Israeli occupation forces and authorities in committing more crimes and serious attacks against journalists and media outlets in Palestine, the latest of which was the killing of journalist Yusef Muhammad Abu Hussein, anchor in "Sawt Al-Aqsa." Today at dawn, Wednesday 19/5/2021, after the occupation army bombed his house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza. And the killing of journalist Abdul Hamid Kulk last Sunday (5/16/2021), after the bombing of his family's home in Gaza as well.

The killing of the journalist Abu Hussein, and before him the journalist Abdul Hamid, was part of a bloody escalating series of Israeli attacks against journalists and media freedoms in Palestine, where the occupation army bombed and destroyed the headquarters and offices of about 30 Palestinian, Arab and international media outlets, during its continuous aggression on the Gaza Strip. In addition to targeting and wounding dozens of journalists in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during their work, as part of the occupation army and authorities' efforts to hide their crimes and attacks.

MADA Center denounces all these crimes committed by the Israeli government and army against the Palestinian people, especially journalists and the media outlets, foremost among which are the murders and targeting of journalists during their work, and the destruction of media institutions. MADA points that, with the killing of the journalists Abu Hussein and Kulk, the number of journalists killed by Israel and its army since the beginning of the year 2000 until now rises to 45.

MADA believes that it is the evasion of perpetrators of Israeli crimes and violations against journalists and the media outlets in Palestine that encouraged the Israeli occupation to continue and escalate its perpetration of more of them, as has been taking place in the West Bank and Gaza for days. Therefore, the Center renews its demand for the need to prosecute The perpetrators of all these crimes, including soldiers and officers, are responsible for issuing instructions that lead to these crimes and attacks, and bringing them to justice, as the only key to putting an end to murders of journalists and other crimes and grave attacks targeting media freedoms in Palestine.