Ramallah, 9th Feb. 2023 – January 2023 has witnessed a rise in the number of violations committed against media freedom in Palestine. During January, MADA documented a total of 59 violations, 44 of which were committed by the occupation authorities while 8 were committed by various Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and 7 were committed by social media companies.
This rise represents 28 points, or (203%), compared to what was documented during the previous month (December 2022), which witnessed 29 violations, including 20 committed by the Israeli occupation forces, 6 violations committed by social media, and 3 violations committed by Palestinian authorities.
Israeli Violations:
The number of Israeli violations increased from 20 violations in December to 44 violations in January 2023, and the percentage of Israeli violations constituted 75% of all violations committed during the month.
The most prominent of these violations was the injury of NIDAL ISHTAYYEH, “SIPA USA” Agency cameraman, with a 5-centimeter fragment in the thigh, and the injury of- “Blossom” Company Director with a live bullet in the right leg muscle, in addition to the injury of the journalist LAITH JAAR who was wounded by a rubber bullet in his left hand.
Furthermore, the Occupation Forces arrested “J-Media” Agency Cameraman, ABDULMOHSEN SHALALDAH, for four days, and detained two other journalists at “Deir Sharaf” Barrier. This is in addition to preventing Al-Jazeera Live reporter from broadcasting live by the Occupation soldiers, detaining B'tselem volunteer for two hours at “Beit Ummar” entrance in Hebron, and preventing the freelance cameraman IBRAHIM ALSINJLAWI to cover the storming of “BEN-GVIR” to Al-Aqsa Mosque claiming he did not hold the Israeli Government Media Office Card.
During the past month, 15 violations of coverage ban-steered targeting were documented, including targeting a group of journalists with tear gas canisters which resulted in their suffocation in the eastern area of Nablus, in addition to targeting another group with rubber bullets to prevent them from covering the settlers’ incursion to “Awarta”, Nablus, as one of the bullets hit and broke LAITH JAAR camera light and the same group was detained until the end of the incursions.
The occupation forces targeted four journalists with live bullets to prevent them from covering the clashes taking place in Jenin Camp, one bullet fell near the feet of Roya TV reporter and another near “J-Media” Agency cameraman LAITH JAAR.
The occupation police also prevented four journalists and a media crew from covering the incidents in “Silwan”, to the south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as two other journalists to cover the citizens’ rally in “Beit Hanina” protesting against the closure imposed on them.
Likewise, one of the settlers, near Howarah, Nablus, tries to run over Quds News Network reporter, ABDALLAH BAHSH.
Social Media Violations:
The number of violations committed by social media networks increased up to 7 violations documented during January 2023, constituting 12% of the total number of violations, whereas December 2022 did not witness such violations.
These violations included the closure of the Raya FM Radio Facebook Page for two days without prior notice or apparent reason, in addition to the closure of the Asharq News Page for three weeks for covering news in Jerusalem.
Furthermore, Facebook has restricted the accounts of five journalists and editors who work as directors of the Quds News Network Page against the backdrop of incitement against it.
Palestinian Violations:
The number of violations committed by various Palestinian authorities increased in January 2023 to 8 violations, constituting 14% of all violations, broken down as (7 in the West Bank and 1 in Gaza Strip), compared to 3 violations documented in the preceding month, December 2022.
The Palestinian Intelligence Service summoned both Al-Jazeera Live cameraman MOHAMMED TURKMAN, and its reporter journalist MOHAMMED SUMRAIN, for questioning. Furthermore, the National Security members prevented the cameraman TURKMAN from covering the peaceful march at the Martyrs Square and seized his equipment.
Palestinian authorities incited against the journalist MOHAMMED AL-ATRASH on the grounds of participating in preparing an episode of "The Hidden is More Immense", as well as systematically incited against "Quds News Network" accusing it of treason and espionage to delete its posts on Facebook.
In addition to the aforementioned, Al-Hayat Al-Jadeed Newspaper dismissed the cartoonist MOHAMMED SABA’NAH from his work after he published a caricature criticizing the Palestinian President. The MOI Institutional Investigations in Gaza Strip prevented the Filastiniyat organization from holding a dialogue workshop to discuss a press investigation.
Details of Violations:
3rd Jan. The Israeli Occupation Police prevented the cameraman IBRAHIM ALSINJLAWI from covering the storming of ITAMAR BEN-GVIR, the National Security Minister, to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and kicked him out of Al-Buraq Wall on the pretext of not having the Israeli Government Media Office Card.
The freelance cameraman IBRAHIM KAMAL HAMAD “ALSINJLAWI” (28 years old) reported to MADA that, at around 7:45 AM on Monday, he was in Jerusalem, specifically in the Al-Buraq Wall area, preparing to cover the storming of the Minister of National Security, "ITAMAR BEN-GVIR" to Al-Aqsa Mosque, and when the Israeli policeman saw him, he pushed him out of the area towards the Mughrabi Gate.
The cameraman stayed there to cover the storming, but one of the police officers approached him along with one of Al-Buraq guards and two policemen and prevented him from filming, kicked him out on the grounds that he does not hold the Government Media Office Card, even though he presented the Israeli Syndicate Card and the membership card of the International Federation of Journalists.
6th Jan. META Facebook Application closed the official page of Raya FM Radio, on Friday, without any prior notification and returned to work, as usual, two days after the closure, after communicating with the Application Administration.
The Radio Editor-In-Chief, journalist SHADI SAEED ZAMA’RA (37 years old), stated to MADA that the closure of the page took place on Friday evening, corresponding to 6th Jan., without any warning or prior notice.
Notices had been received to all seven Directors of "Raya" to change their passwords on their personal accounts, only to discover, after a few minutes, that the Radio Page had been closed.
The journalist "ZAMA’RA" contacted "Sada Social" Center, which, in addition to the efforts of the Radio's technical officials, was able to restore the page after communicating with Facebook Management, without deleting any of its posts.
6th Jan. Facebook Application closed the “Asharq News” Page for three weeks on the backdrop of a post shared on the page to cover the incidents in Jerusalem City.
The Page Admin, GHAZI MAMDOUH MURTAJA, (40 years old), stated to MADA that Facebook has closed the “Asharq News” Page for three weeks noting it is followed by no less than 800,000 followers, on the grounds of media coverage of the incidents in Jerusalem City, as Facebook sent a notification that the page is “violating its standards and policy”.
Three weeks later, the page was restored, after Facebook Management was addressed according to the applicable procedures. The page was active again after the post that was considered to have violated the standards and policy of the application was removed.
8th Jan. Palestinian Authorities have incited against the journalist MOHAMMED AL-ATRASH for taking part in preparing for an episode of “The Hidden is more Immense” broadcast on Al-Jazeera Network, about the armed Palestinian resistance across the West Bank.
The journalist MOHAMMED AL-ATRASH (30 years old), stated to MADA that he was subject to a huge campaign of incitement, defamation, and threats, after he helped produce, through his company, an episode of “The Hidden is More Immense” about the armed Palestinian resistance in the occupied West Bank, specifically in Jenin and Nablus.
The journalist AL-ATRASH was surprised, on Saturday morning, 8th Feb. with a funded advertisement that reaches the pages of Palestinian users with his personal picture, asking them to go and comment on his page with clear terms of treason, burdening him as a journalist with the responsibility for any harm that befalls the people he met in the film.
He was also surprised by a statement issued by the "Fatah" movement in Nablus, which directly incites and defames the program and its staff, describing the program as "paid media", and asking the security services to prosecute the journalists who participated in its production.
The media production company owned by the journalist AL-ATRASH had been entrusted with filming interviews arranged in advance by the program team of “The Hidden is More Immense” of Al-Jazeera, and it carried out this task accordingly, as the filming took place under conditions that were not determined by the team, but rather by the interviewees, and all that was filmed was subject to their full approval and terms.
The journalist was subjected to systematic incitement, defamation, and intimidation over the course of a whole week. The incitement was related to the nature of the information contained in the film, which is information pertaining to Al Jazeera and is subject to its editorial policies.
He filed an official complaint at the Syndicate of Journalists on 9th Feb. asking them to take the necessary legal actions.
10th Jan. Some members of the National Security Forces prevented the cameraman, MOHAMMED TURKMAN, from covering the peaceful march in Nablus, and members of the Intelligence Service seized his mobile phone and press card on Tuesday evening.
In his statement to MADA, Al-Jazeera Live cameraman, MOHAMMED HAMMOUD TURKMAN, (25 years old) said that he was covering the peaceful march of citizens at the Martyrs Square in Nablus at around 05:00 PM, on Tuesday, demanding the Palestinian Authority to release the political prisoners in its jails.
While filming the march, a number of National Security Forces officers approached him and asked him to stop filming despite telling them that he was a journalist, noting he was wearing the press uniform showing his identity.
After that, other members in civilian clothes approached him and introduced themselves as members of the General Intelligence Service. They seized his mobile phone and press card and asked to see him at the Intelligence Headquarters in Nablus.
The journalist contacted the Journalists Syndicate, which in turn contacted the security services. After about half an hour, an intelligence officer asked about the journalist "TURKMAN" and returned his phone and card.
12th Jan. Two photojournalists were injured with live bullets on Thursday, corresponding to 12th Jan. in Nablus City while covering the incursion of the Occupation Forces that morning.
The cameraman of “SIPA USA” NASSIR ISHTAYYA (53 years old) stated to MADA that he was filming the occupation forces’ storming the old city of Nablus, near the Fatimid School, and he was less than 100 meters away from the occupation forces, wearing full professional safety clothes.
The occupation forces started firing at the demonstrators heavily, and even though the journalist tried to move away from the line of fire, he was injured by a large fragment in the left thigh.
The cameraman, ISHTAYYA, was transferred to the hospital, where the fragment, which was about 5 centimeters wide, according to doctors, caused a large wound in the thigh, and he continued to receive treatment until Friday 17th Feb.
On the same day, the Head of Blossom Company, HASSAN SAED QAMHIYA (39 years old) was injured by a live bullet lowering his knee while covering the same incursion, as he was near Souk El Haddadine. Despite his extreme care while covering the incident, a bullet from one of the occupation snipers hit his right leg muscle, the "calve", and exited from the other side.
The journalist received treatment in the hospital and was discharged two days later. He stayed home and was incapable of moving until Sunday 29th Jan. when he was able to move around using crutches.
13th Jan. The Occupation Army detained two journalists at “Deir Sharaf” Barrier, near Nablus, for two hours and seized their equipment and cell phones and prevented them from coverage on their way back from press coverage in Qabatia, Jenin.
The freelance journalist WAHHAJ JAMAL BANI MUFLEH (23 years old), stated to MADA that he along with his coworker, Al-Arabi TV cameraman, the journalist RABEE’ ALMUNEER finished the covering of a martyrs funeral in Qabatia, and on their way back at around 04:00 PM, they were detained at “Deir Sharaf” Barrier for two hours and a half.
They were stopped and detained by the occupation soldiers at the Barrier. Their cameras and cell phones were seized, and they were searched. The soldiers also attempted to assault them physically not to mention they were assaulted verbally too.
Both journalists remained detained until 06:30 PM and then they were released, and their cameras and cell phones were returned to them.
16th Jan. The occupation forces targeted the press crews while they were covering the incursion in the eastern area of Nablus (Joseph's Tomb) with tear gas canisters resulting in the suffocation of journalists covering the incident.
The reporter of Quds News Network, ABDULLAH TAYSEER BAHSH (24 years old) stated that the journalists and press crews gathered at around 11:00 PM, to cover the incursion of the occupation forces (with around 40 military jeeps) to “Joseph's Tomb”, eastern Nablus, to secure the incursion of settlers.
The journalists, who were wearing press uniforms, took a corner for themselves in an area far from the citizens and the occupation soldiers, and there were no signs of clashes.
Meanwhile, a military vehicle approached the journalists and heavily fired tear gas canisters at them, which the journalist counted approximately ten, causing all of them to suffocate, except for the journalist "BAHSH", who was wearing a gas mask.
All the journalists suffocated and received field treatment from the medical staff present in the place.
Among the journalists who were suffocated were (Palestine TV reporter BAKR ABDEL-HAQ, TV cameraman YASSER HABESHA, ROYA TV reporter HAFEZ SABRA, TV cameraman MAHMOUD FAWZI, cameraman JIHAD AL-BADAWI, the photojournalist MUJAHID TABANJA, the photojournalist MOHAMMED TURKMAN, Al-Najah TV cameraman ANAN HASIBA, Odeh TV cameraman YOUSEF SHEHADEH, and J-Media cameraman LAITH JAAR).
17th Jan. The MOI Institutional Investigation Unit in Gaza Strip prevented the holding of a dialogue session to discuss an investigative report regarding “The Protection Methods from Harassment within Academic Institutions” in Gaza, which was published in November 2022 on the “Nawa” Network affiliated to “Filastiniyat” Organization.
The head of programs at the “Filastiniyat” Organization MUNA ZAKI KHADER (51 years old) reported to MADA that it was decided to hold the dialogue session regarding “The Mechanism of Intervention to Protect Female Students from Harassment” after finishing the preparation of the investigative report regarding “The Protection Methods from Harassment within Academic Institutions”.
It was decided to hold a workshop with the decision makers aiming at finding the mechanisms of intervention against harassment. The invitation for the workshop was extended to the Universities’ Presidents, the Ministry of Interior, the Police, and the Legislative Council to attend and propose solutions in this regard.
The head of programs received a call from the Ministry of Interior asking her to visit the Organizations Department at the Ministry two hours prior to the workshop. Therefore, she immediately headed to the Department where she was asked to postpone the workshop with the excuse of “security reasons”. However, the head of programs refused to defer it and suggested informing the Organization Board which also refused to postpone it and decided to hold it with whoever attends.
The Organizations Security Investigation Unit sent a force (3 people) to prevent the holding of the workshop 45 minutes prior to the start. After a long discussion, the workshop was banned. However, the workshop was permitted to be held after external interventions, but it was too late.
Several complaints have been filed in this regard to the Legislative Council, the General Observer of the Ministry, the Attorney General, and the Police, however, the Organization is waiting for the results of the investigations.
19th Jan. Palestinian authorities incited against “Quds News” Network and its employees. They circulated their posts of incitement on other groups on WhatsApp and Telegram in an organized campaign to report the posts of the Network to be deleted.
The journalist and editor of “Quds News” Network YOUSEF SAMI ABU WATFA (30 years old) reported to MADA that Palestinian authorities incited against the Network. They also posted a video clip to promote the idea that the Network is a “Sedition Network” accusing it of treason and espionage.
The incitement campaign aimed at reporting posts about martyrs, especially the old posts despite that Facebook informed the Network they will not be dealing with reports on four-year-old posts.
The Network Facebook Page was subject to more than an attack to the extent of restricting the accounts of its administrator for days or a week. This led to hindering the work of the Network and its coverage of events. The administrators are: the Journalist AHMED JARRAR, ABDULRA’UF KHADER, YOUSEF ABU WATFA, RAMI ASSALHI, ABDULQADER AQEL.
In addition to the Palestinian authorities, the Page was previously subject to reports from Israeli authorities as the Minister of Defense of the Occupation Army in the former Israeli Government “BINI GANTZ” stated that he will be stalking all incitement Palestinian Pages. After that statement, the Network Page was banned and restricted.
19th Jan. The Israeli Occupation Forces arrested ABDULMUHSEN SHALALDA the cameraman of J-Media from his house in “Sa’ir” on Thursday dawn. However, they released him after 4 days of arrest.
In his statement to MADA, the cameraman ABDULMUHSEN SHALALDA reported that an Israeli Occupation Force raided his house in “Sa’ir” to the northeast of Hebron around 02:00 AM on Thursday. They asked the journalist to get dressed and accompany them.
The journalist was taken to “Etzion” Detention Center and remained detained in a cell in severely bad conditions, as he had no bed or a cover. He was released on Saturday, January 21st without being interrogated.
The journalist was informed of a court session the next day, and he was transferred to the “Ofer” Police Station as he faced the charge of “Working with Inciting Agencies – Article 1”. However, he was not brought before the court.
The officer in charge of the area arrived at the location and interrogated the journalist for 20 minutes about his journalism work and the preparation of incitement reports regarding the prisoners. He also interrogated him regarding his media coverage of events concerning the prisoners.
The journalist answered him that he is just a journalist and doing his job of covering events.
The journalist was sent back to “Etzion” Detention Center. He was released after his arrival; however, he was threatened with being summoned at any time.
23rd Jan. The journalist ABDULLAH BAHSH was subject to a run-over attempt by one of the settlers on Monday evening during his coverage of the settlers’ attacks against “Huwara” in Nablus.
In his statement to MADA, the reporter of “Quds News” Network ABDULLAH TAISEER BAHSH (24 years old) mentioned to MADA that he was heading at 06:00 PM with two cameramen MUJAHED TABANJA and JIHAD ALBDAWI to “Huwara” to cover the robbery incident of a shop by one of the settlers in the town.
One of the settlers approached BAHSH while he was standing on the sidewalk with his car in an attempt of running him over, but his colleagues pulled him away from the car.
23rd Jan. The Occupation Intelligence summoned the journalist RAJA’E ALKHATEEB for interrogation in its departments for hours. They accused him of helping a citizen who raised the Palestinian flag over the courtyards of the “Al-Aqsa” Mosque on Monday evening.
The reporter of Jordan TV, RAJA’E MAHFOUZ ALKHATEEB (43 years old) reported to MADA that he was informed earlier that one of the citizens is intending to raise the Palestinian flag over the courtyards of the “Al- Aqsa” Mosque, and that person asked him to be present there to cover the event. When the citizen raised the flag, he sought the journalist’s assistance to hold his phone.
The journalist was surprised by the raid of the Occupation Intelligence to his house on Monday dawn, January 23rd, and handing him a summons notice to be interrogated with.
The journalist RAJA’E headed at 12:00 PM to the Intelligence HQ and he handed over his mobile phone and I.D. card and waited for more than an hour.
The journalist was sent to the interrogation room where the intelligence officer was waiting to interrogate him on the charge of “disturbing public order”, and the charge of “assisting a citizen to raise a flag”, hence participating in illegal conduct.
The journalist denied both charges and answered the officer that he is only a journalist and was covering the events, and if the officer deems otherwise, he may file his claims to a court of law. The interrogation ended an hour later, and the journalist reclaimed his belongings and left the premises.
24th Jan. The Occupation Forces hindered the work of a group of Palestinian journalists in “Awarta”, and they targeted the journalists with rubber bullets and detained them twice during their coverage of the settlers’ incursion into an archeological area in the town, and with the protection of the Occupation Army.
The reporter of “Al-Qastal” Network, AYMAN FAISAL QAWAREEQ (36 years old) reported to MADA that a group of journalists wearing the press uniform were present on Tuesday evening to cover the settlers’ attack against “Awarta” under the protection of the Occupation Army and they are (MOHAMMED TURKMAN “Al-Jazeera” Live cameraman, cameraman YAZAN HAMAYEL, ABDULLAH BAHSH reporter of “Quds” News Network, MOHAMMED THABET freelance cameraman.
The journalists were targeted by the Occupation soldiers from over 100 meters away with rubber bullets with the aim to stop their coverage. One of the bullets hit the camera light of “J-Media” reporter LAITH JAAR directly and broke it, whereas another bullet hit his left hand causing him a mild injury. The journalist QAWAREEQ was targeted with a bullet that hit a trash container next to him.
The journalists were surrounded by the military vehicles on the one side and the infantry soldiers on the other side. The soldiers also hindered the journalists’ work, detained them in an area between buildings for an hour, prevented them from coverage, and forced them to leave the area. When the journalists attempted to head towards their car to leave the area, the soldiers stopped them and made them wait until the raid is finished.
After one hour of detention, the journalists attempted to leave the area again but the Occupation soldiers detained them for another half an hour until the raid is fully finished.
25th Jan. The “Al-Hayat al-Jadida” newspaper dismissed the cartoonist MOHAMMED SABA’ANEH because he drew a caricature criticizing the silence of President Mahmoud Abbas in light of the events in the Jenin refugee camp, in terms of daily incursions and killings by the Occupation Forces.
MOHAMMED SABA’ANEH (44 years old) reported to MADA that he was informed of the dismissal decision on January 25th for reasons the newspaper deemed appropriate.
SABA’ANEH contacted the newspaper’s editor MAHMOUD ABU AL-HAIJA through a phone call and asked him about the dismissal decision. The editor responded by saying: “to renew the youth blood in the newspaper”, however, the real reason was the official pique of the caricature that was published a few days earlier to the dismissal decision.
The journalist SABA’ANEH was not called by the newspaper with which he signed a contract in 2008 to inquire about the caricature, and with which he worked for 6 years for free. SABA’ANEH had some intel from his colleagues in the governmental media saying that there are some official piques regarding the caricature SABA’ANEH published on social media and because he did not send it to the newspaper knowing it will not be published, hence, his dismissal decision was issued as a punishment for the caricature.
26th Jan. The Occupation Forces targeted the journalists with live ammunition during their coverage at the outer sides of the Jenin refugee camp. The forces aimed to prevent the journalists from entering the camp and covering the ongoing events after they raided the camp and the martyrdom of a number of citizens on Thursday morning.
The cameraman of “J-Media” LAITH JAAR (25 years old) reported to MADA that at 10:00 AM HAFETH SABRA the reporter of “Roya” TV, MAHMOUD FAWZI the cameraman of “Roya”, cameraman MAJDI ISHTAYEH, and himself were present at the outer sides of the camp to cover the clashes between the citizens of the camp and the Occupation Forces.
The journalists were standing in an open area and revealed to the Occupation soldiers while wearing the press uniform. The soldiers were 50 meters away, and after half an hour of coverage, the soldiers targeted the journalists with live ammunition. One of the bullets dropped next to JAAR foot and the other one next to the journalist ABU SABRA.
The journalists had to step back for a few meters from where they were standing and continued the coverage.
28th Jan. The Occupation Police hindered the work of the Jerusalemite journalists who were covering the ongoing events in “Silwan” on Saturday evening, and after the martyrdom of one of the citizens. The Occupation Police attacked the journalists by firing tear gas directly at them.
The reporter of Jordan TV, RAJA’E MAHFOUZ ALKHATEEB (43 years old) reported to MADA that a group of journalists including himself were present in “Silwan” – Occupied Jerusalem to conduct interviews with the family of the martyr KHAIRY ALQAM. The journalists were: LANA KAMLEH the reporter of “Palestine” TV, HANAA’ MAHAMEED the reporter of “Al-Mayadeen” and the cameraman MOHAMMED ESHO, and FIRAS ALHINDAWI the cameraman of “Palestine” TV. However, the Occupation Police prevented the journalists from staying in the area and continue their work by firing tear gas at them to disperse them, despite the non-existence of any demonstrations.
28th Jan. The Occupation soldiers fired live ammunition at the journalists in “Beita” to the south of Nablus and forced them to leave the area under the threat of live ammunition on January 28th morning.
The freelance cameraman WAHHAJ JAMAL BANI MUFLEH (23 years old) reported to MADA that his colleague MOHAMMED KHDAIR SUMRAIN (36 years old) the reporter of “Al-Qastal” Network and himself were present at 10:00 AM in “Beita” to cover the closure of the town forced by the Occupation.
The Occupation soldiers approached the journalists despite them wearing the press uniform. The soldiers fired live ammunition toward the journalists targeting their feet and a little bit above their heads. This led the journalists to leave the area at 11:00 AM.
29th Jan. The Occupation Forces detained two journalists in “Beit Ummar” and prevented them from reporting live about the situation in the West Bank for “Al-Jazeera Live”.
The reporter of “Al-Jazeera Live”, AHMED MOHAMMED AL-HALAYQEH (37 years old) reported to MADA that his colleague MOHAMMED AYYAD AWAD (60 years old) who is a volunteer at “B’tselem” as a cameraman and himself headed at 10:30 AM to “Beit Ummar”. They were posted 200 meters away from the military watchtower that is located on the lands of the town to make a live report about the situation in the West Bank after the shooting in Jerusalem.
After the preparation for the live broadcast, the reporter was surprised by three soldiers approaching him. They asked him: “what are you doing?” and “who are you working for?”. The reporter told him that he is a journalist and tried to give them his journalism card, but they refused to take it, but they asked for his Palestinian I.D. and checked it for several minutes. The reporter told them that he is preparing a report for “Al-Jazeera”, and the soldier replied in Hebrew “Al-Jazeera is bad.”.
The journalist AHMED could not continue his work of preparing the live report since the soldier asked him to leave the area immediately.
The cameraman of “B’tselem”, MOHAMMED AYYAD reported to MADA that during the conversation of his colleague AHMED with the soldier, he was inside one of the houses close to the area, and the soldier prevented him from coverage. After he exited the house, AHMED has already left the area and when the soldiers saw him, they detained him for two hours in the military watchtower. The soldiers took his I.D. card and while he was in their custody, they interrogated him regarding the reasons for his presence in the area and whom he is working with. They released him afterward and returned his I.D. card.
31st Jan. The Palestinian General Intelligence Service summoned the “Al-Jazeera Live” journalist, MOHAMMED SUMRAIN, and his colleague the cameraman, MOHAMMED TURKMAN on Tuesday for interrogation at their HQ.
The two journalists reported that they were summoned through the phone by security personnel referring to himself as an affiliate of General Intelligence. When the cameraman TURKMAN asked him about the summons, he answered: “you will know when you come here”.
31st Jan. The Occupation Police prevented the journalists from covering the gathering of citizens in “Beit Hanina” to the north of Jerusalem city, who were refusing the closure of the town after the martyrdom of one of the citizens.
The freelancer camerawoman, ALAA’ KHALIL ASSOUS (29 years old) reported to MADA that she was heading with her colleague the cameraman MOHAMMED ABU SNAINEH to “Beit Hanina” at 10:00 PM on Tuesday after the martyrdom of a citizen in the area and as the people rallied in refusal to the closure of the town.
During the closure of the town, the Occupation Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters to disperse the citizens in town. Afterward, the Police prevented the two journalists to continue the coverage and pushed them violently, and forced them to leave the area.
