Ramallah – 12th Sep. 2023 Violations against media freedoms in Palestine continued at the same high and extremely dangerous pace during August, despite a slight increase in their number compared to the previous month of July, as MADA documented 84 attacks against media freedoms compared to 80 violations committed documented during the previous month of July to increase by 5%.
The 84 documented violations were divided into 58 violations committed by the Israeli occupation forces, and 14 violations committed by various Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, while 12 violations committed by social media platforms and companies were documented.
Israeli Violations:
During the month of August 2023, the Israeli occupation forces and authorities committed a total of 58 attacks against media freedoms. This number represents an increase of 71% compared to what was documented during the previous month of July, which witnessed a total of 45 Israeli violations, one of which took place in Gaza Strip.
The Israeli violations documented during the past month constituted 69% of all violations committed, and their great hazard came in terms of focusing on paralyzing the movement of journalists and media crews and preventing them from covering the various events that spread in all governorates. The attacks during this month occurred in a complex manner, as some journalists and media crews were exposed to more than one violation on the same day, whether in the same event or while covering different events.
The occupation forces physically attacked 7 journalists, either with gas bombs or severe beatings. They also targeted and prevented coverage of a total of 22 journalists and media crews. Also, 10 journalists were detained in the field to prevent them from covering, while 3 journalists were arrested and later released.
In addition to the above, the occupation authorities deleted media materials for five journalists, threatened 3 other journalists in various ways, raided the house of a female journalist in Jerusalem, and banished male and female journalists from Al-Aqsa Mosque and its doors for varying periods, imposed a fine on one journalist for his release, and prevented two journalists from traveling.
Palestinian Violations:
Palestinian violations decreased during the month of August 2023, from 18 violations documented during July to 14 violations, a decrease of 22%, and were distributed among eight violations committed in the West Bank and six violations committed in Gaza Strip.
Despite this decline, it is not considered positive, given the many cases of harassment practiced against journalists in the West Bank, and the violations that intensified in Gaza Strip during the period they were in the field to cover the “We Want to Live” movement event, which was organized in most of the governorates of Gaza protesting against poor living conditions.
The total Palestinian violations accounted for 17% of all documented violations during the past month, and were distributed among 6 physical attacks committed against journalists in the West Bank, the detention of two journalists in Gaza Strip, the summoning of a journalist in the West Bank by the Intelligence Services in Tulkarm, the deletion of articles by journalists and the threat of two journalists, while other journalists were pursued in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Social Media Violations:
The number of violations documented by social media companies and platforms decreased during the month of August compared to the month of July, and MADA documented a total of 12 violations compared to 17 violations documented during July, a decline of 29%.
Social media violations during the month of August constituted 14% of all documented violations, represented by deleting pages and restricting others for a number of journalists on the basis of their media coverage and under the pretext of violating the standards followed by these platforms.
MADA monitored the closure of 8 accounts of journalists on applications belonging to “Meta” Company, 5 of which were deleted from “WhatsApp” Application, two accounts were deleted from “Instagram” Application, and an account that was restricted on “Facebook” Application for a period of 59 days.
While "Tik Tok" Application permanently closed 3 journalists’ accounts, and one account was temporarily closed.
Details of Violations:
1st August - Journalist YASSER SULEIMAN ABU AWWAD (36 years old), who works for the Canaan News Agency in Gaza Strip, was surprised by the disappearance of his “WhatsApp” account on the first of August through a message from “WhatsApp” Application stating that his account had been restricted.
After communicating with the Application Administration and clarifying his professional status and that he is a journalist, and what he does is publish news on the Agency’s groups, his message was rejected and they confirmed that the account had been permanently deleted.
1st August - Freelance journalist ASHRAF AHMED RAMADAN (30 years old) in Gaza Strip was surprised when his account on “WhatsApp” Application was restricted, claiming that it violated the content and standards. The Application’s Administration did not accept the journalist’s explanations and deleted the account permanently.
2nd August - The occupation forces detained a group of journalists on Wednesday morning for about an hour and a half, interrogated them, and prevented them from reaching an area near the “Jordan Valley” to cover a shooting incident there after an Israeli ambulance driver blocked their way and threatened them with weapons at “Hamra” Military Checkpoint near the town of Tammoun.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, three journalists, namely: "SIPA USA" Agency cameraman NASSER SULEIMAN SHTAYYEH (52 years old), freelance journalist ALI HASSAN SHTAYYEH (39 years old), and freelance journalist AYMAN RABAH GHARIB BANI ODEH, went to an area near the Jordan Valley to cover the shooting incident there.
When they arrived at “Hamra” Military Checkpoint near the town of “Tammoun” in the northern West Bank, an Israeli ambulance driver intercepted their way, pointed his weapon at them, and ordered them to evacuate the vehicle they were traveling in, which had the word “Press” printed on it.
The cameraman, NASSER, got out of the vehicle and tried to speak with the Israeli driver. He also called the emergency number and reported the assault to the police without revealing his identity. Minutes later, the journalists were surprised by a force of occupation soldiers and special units surrounding the place. They asked them to get out of the vehicle and seized their personal cards.
The occupation soldiers interrogated the journalists, asked them about their destination, and carefully searched their vehicle and personal phones, preventing them from arriving to cover the event, and then asked them to leave the place after a detention that lasted about an hour and a half.
3rd August - Members of the security services in civilian clothing assaulted four journalists on Thursday afternoon after they covered a sit-in organized by female students of the Islamic Bloc on the campus of Hebron University in rejection of political arrest.
According to the field investigations conducted by MADA researcher, four journalists arrived: (J-Media Agency cameraman ABDUL MOHSEN TAYSEER AL-SHALALDEH, "Watan" Agency cameraman and "Quds News" reporter SARI SHARIF JARADAT, and NIDAL MAHMOUD ASHMAR NATSHEH, "Palestine Today" TV reporter, and the freelance journalist LOAY MEHBASH AMR) at around 11:30AM, on Thursday in front of the Hebron University campus to cover a sit-in of female students of the Islamic Bloc to demand an end to political arrest by the Palestinian security services.
After a while of covering the sit-in, the four journalists headed to the street opposite the University, and ten people in civilian clothes followed them and asked them for press cards. When the journalists asked them about their identity, they said to them: “We are thugs” and you must stop filming, otherwise we will break your cameras. Someone tried to steal journalist NIDAL NATSHEH’s phone from his pocket, but Nidal grabbed it and refused to give it to him. He headed into a nearby restaurant. Meanwhile, a number of the aforementioned people followed journalist NATSHEH into the restaurant. They attacked him forcefully, made him fall to the ground, and severely beat him with their hands and feet all over his body, while one of the people assaulted the three journalists and sprayed them with pepper gas in their faces while shouting at them “If you do not leave, we will burn your vehicle” and they were forced to leave the place later.
Minutes later, journalist NATSHEH left the restaurant and followed the young men who assaulted him. One of them was holding his camera in his left hand. When NIDAL reached him, he grabbed him with his right hand and took him to the main entrance of the University. Meanwhile, another person attacked journalist NATSHEH from behind and sprayed pepper gas in his face. Then he punched him several times in the back with his hand in which he held the metal gas canister.
The journalist NATSHEH began to feel dizzy and tired, and he approached one of the University’s guards and asked him to call an ambulance and help him find the camera after the person who was carrying it disappeared, but the guard grabbed NIDAL with his hands and pushed him towards one of the public vehicles parked on the road. At that moment, a person arrived carrying a waist belt in his hand, and hit the journalist NATSHEH twice on his back, while the journalist NATSHEH was about to fall to the ground due to his inability to breathe.
Moments later, a patrol belonging to the Palestinian Police and another from the Palestinian National Security Service arrived in front of the University. Nidal went to one of the individuals and asked him to take him to the officer in charge. Journalist NATSHEH told him: He was attacked by civilians who stole his camera, but the officer’s response was that he should go to the Guard Police Station to file a complaint.
Journalist NATSHEH went in a private car to Al-Ahli Hospital in the city, where, after medical examinations and x-rays, it was found that he had severe bruises on various parts of his body.
3rd August - TikTok platform deleted the account of the journalist KHALDOUN ZAKARIA AL-MAZLOUM (39 years old), at Sanad Media Agency, after he published a video clip of resistants from Tulkarm camp. He deleted his account from the platform completely, and all attempts to recover the account were unsuccessful.
4th August - “Tik Tok” Platform deleted the account of the journalist on “Al-Jazeera Live” TV, MOHAMMED SAMREEN (37 years old), about 8 hours after publishing a video clip of a sheikh in a mosque in Tulkarm giving a sermon during the funeral of a martyr, where he received a notice to permanently close the account and the reason was "violent extremism", and after communicating with "Sada Social" Institution, the account was recovered after the video was deleted.
4th August - Members of the Palestinian security services in Gaza Strip assaulted a group of journalists and prevented them from covering the event of “We Want to Live” movement, which was organized in many cities to protest against the poor living conditions in the Strip. They detained some of them and interrogated them. They also prosecuted many of them, and deleted the filmed material for others to prevent coverage.
Police officers in Gaza Strip detained the cameramen of the "French" Agency at Jabalia refugee camp police station for 40 minutes, after they were arrested from the "Trans" square in northern Gaza on Friday afternoon while covering the "We Want to Live" movement.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, the cameramen of the French Agency in Gaza Strip, BASHAR AHMED TALIB (34 years old) and his colleague, the cameraman MOHAMMED ABDEL RAZEQ AL-BABA (54 years old), were present in the “Trans” area, north of Gaza City, on Friday afternoon, covering a demonstration that took place within “We want to live” movement.
At about 03:00PM, during the coverage, a police officer in civilian clothing approached journalist BASHAR, identifying himself as one of the members of the investigation, and asked him for the permission to film. The ameraman, BASHAR, replied that peaceful marches do not require a permit or prior permission to film.
The investigation officer moved away from the cameraman for a few minutes, then came back and asked him to get into a civilian car, in which there were three individuals in civilian clothes, and they took him to the Jabalia police station. The same incident was repeated with the journalist, "MOHAMMED AL-BABA", who was taken to the Jabalia police station at around five o'clock in the evening.
Immediately upon the arrival of the cameraman BASHAR at the police station, one of the police officers asked another to put him and the photojournalist, MOHAMMED BABA, “in the cell” where he was detained at the time. The cameramen objected and refused. They both were then brought to the investigation room, where the officer wrote down their statements and personal information. Then he told them, “you’re filming the area without a permit and without permission”? They answered that they did not film anything, so the officer searched their equipment, personal phones, and press cards, and interrogated them about the reasons for their presence in the “Trans” area.
The officer searched their cameras, and when he did not find any picture, he searched their phones, and they found a “selfie” picture on the phone of journalist MOHAMMED BABA while he was in the “Trans” area. The officer asked the policeman to detain them in the “cell” but BABA refused, and asked: Why are we being detained when we did not do anything?
The officer called his manager and told him that the cameraman, MOHAMMED BABA, and his colleague, BASHAR TALIB, did not film anything with their cameras, but only a selfie of the area they were in. He told him to seize the phone with the picture on it (the phone of journalist MOHAMMED BABA), and give them their cameras, and release them. The officer complied with his manager’s orders after detaining the cameramen for 40 minutes.
BABA refused to go out without his phone, but the officer ordered him to go out, and after about two hours, one of their friends who works with “Hamas Media” called the cameraman, BASHAR, informing him that his colleague, BABA’s phone was with him and that he had to come get it.
Security personnel in civilian clothing carrying pistols chased the director of filming at Palestine TV, MUAMMAR ABU TABIKH (43 years old), when he was waiting for his colleague, Palestine TV reporter in Gaza Strip, FOUAD KAMAL JARADA (39 years old), at the “Shujaiya parking lot” around 4:00PM on Friday.
Journalist MUAMMAR noticed two individuals filming him with their phones, so he walked away from them on foot to meet his colleague FOUAD, who was on an appointment with him to go to agricultural land north of Gaza City.
After the journalists arrived at the agricultural land, Palestine TV reporter received a call from a private number at around 4:30PM on Friday, and the caller identified himself as being from the General Intelligence Service.
The caller asked the journalist about his whereabouts, and he replied that he was on land in the Civil Administration area with friends, including the TV director of filming, MUAMMAR ABU TABIKH, and that they were on vacation to spend it on agricultural land.
The caller ordered the journalist not to interfere in the “We Want to Live” movement and said to him: “Any job related to the We Want to Live movement, you only have yourself to blame. The situation is not good and we will hold you responsible”. After hanging up the phone, a private number called his colleague MUAMMAR. At that time, MUAMMAR was performing the Asr prayer and was unable to answer the call. When he was browsing the Internet while he was at the place, he was surprised that his name was included in a list called “A list of names of advocates of the suspicious movement to riot and target the resistance”.
5th August - Journalist MOHAMMED ABED was injured by a gas bomb in the knee, and journalist ALI AL-SAMOUDI was injured by gunfire during the Palestinian security services’ suppression of a march that came out of Jenin camp in celebration of a shooting attack carried out by a citizen in “Tel Aviv” on Saturday, 5th August.
According to investigations by MADA field researcher, Quds News Network reporter MOHAMMED SAMIR ABED (27 years old) arrived at around 9:00PM on Sunday evening to Jenin camp to cover the march that took place starting from the camp to celebrate the shooting that took place in the city of “Tel Aviv.” When the demonstrators arrived at the "Cinema Roundabout", specifically in front of Al-Ahram Studio in the city, the Palestinian security services suppressed the march, throwing tear gas bombs and firing bullets at the demonstrators in order to disperse them.
Journalist ABED was standing in front of the march, 5 meters away from it, carrying press equipment to film the large numbers of citizens. He was not wearing protective armor or a helmet because the march was peaceful. However, he was hit by a gas bomb in the knee and was subsequently transferred to Jenin Governmental Hospital to receive treatment. It was found that there was strong bruising in the knee.
On the same day, during the same march, the reporter of Al-Quds newspaper in Jenin, journalist ALI SADIQ SAMOUDI (56 years old), was injured by shrapnel from a metal bullet of unknown origin, while he was standing on the balcony of a house to film the march, where he heard successive gunfire, but he did not care about it because he was in a safe place. Suddenly, he felt pain in his head and back, which he described as the most severe and painful of the injuries he had previously suffered.
He was immediately transferred to Ibn Sina Hospital, where it was found that he had shrapnel wounds in his head and back, but they did not require surgical intervention to remove them.
7th August - The Israeli police detained freelance journalist AHMED JALAJEL for about three hours while he was near the light rail station to prepare a report for a TV, obstructed his work, and took him to the Al-Maskobiyya Investigation Center on Monday evening.
In his testimony to MADA, freelance journalist AHMED OTHMAN JALAJEL (44 years old) said that around 03:00PM, on Monday, he was preparing a report on security tightening for one of the TVs in the city of Jerusalem, and upon his arrival near the light rail station, one of the guards approached him and asked him not to film. When he showed him the Palestinian press card, he replied that it had no value inside Jerusalem.
The discussion developed into verbal altercations that led to field detention and search, then transportation in a police car to Al-Maskobiyya interrogation center. He remained there for 3 hours between waiting and interrogation. The questions revolved around his work as a journalist: “Why? For whom? What is the goal?” In addition to a request to view the filmed materials. In the end, he was released without conditions or restrictions.
7th August - The Palestinian Intelligence Service in the city of Tulkarm summoned journalist SAMI AL-SA'I and re-investigated him on Monday after it had arrested him last July.
Freelance journalist SAMI SAEED AL-SA'I (43 years old) stated in his testimony to MADA that he went at about 12:30PM on Monday to the headquarters of the Intelligence Service in the city of Tulkarm after he had been summoned last Monday evening, 31st July, after his release.
The journalist entered the headquarters, and the officer asked him to open his phone. He refused and told them that he could not have brought it with him and that he was not hiding anything inside it.
The officer wrote a statement that included the names of the institutions that contacted the journalist after his recent arrest, which were NADA, Al-Haq Foundation, and a number of other human rights organizations.
The journalist signed the statement, and after waiting approximately two and a half hours, he was allowed to leave the headquarters at about 03:00PM on Monday.
8th August - TikTok platform closed the personal account of Quds News Network reporter ABDULLAH TAYSEER BAHASH (26 years old) completely for two weeks due to publishing a video of an occupation army soldier firing gas bombs on Amman Street in the city of Nablus. His Facebook account was also subject to restriction on 9th August as he was banned from live broadcasting, conference calls, and paid advertisements for a period of 59 days after he published a photo of martyrs from the city of Nablus.
8th August – The Photojournalist JARRAH KHALAF was pursued by the Palestinian Military Intelligence Service in Jenin Governorate, under the pretext of accepting a job in the Service, although he did not apply for employment, and he did not go.
In his testimony to MADA researcher, the freelance cameraman JARRAH WALID KHALAF (23 years old) mentioned that he received a phone call at around 11:30PM, on Tuesday from an officer in the Military Intelligence Service in the city of Jenin, and he was asked to come to the headquarters for an interview. He was chosen for a job in the Service, knowing that the cameraman had not applied for employment. He told the officer that, but he insisted on going.
The next day, an intelligence officer called JARRAH's brother, the cameraman, and told him that JARRAH promised the intelligence service that he would go to them for an interview and he did not go. When asked about the matter, he denied knowing the details of the matter, and that the intelligence service was the one asking for him.
JARRAH did not go to the intelligence headquarters, which prompted the officer to call JARRAH’s brother again, and told him that he was wanted by all Services, and that he must come for an interview, and if he did not come, he would be arrested, as it turned out that the job interview was for the purpose of arrest.
Since that time, messages have been received by JARRAH's family bearing threatening messages from officers in his town, that he should turn himself in and that he has big cases against him. When asked about these cases, they did not provide any answers.
Journalist JARRAH contacted the Journalists Syndicate, which expressed its surprise at the summons. They told him that there was no order against him, especially since the other party was the Military Intelligence Service. He did not receive a response from the members of the Syndicate Council who were contacted, and they did not guarantee that he would be released if he goes to the interview.
8th August - The Israeli occupation police arrested the freelance journalist NAJWA AKLIK from Al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday evening and took her and interrogated her at the investigation center in the "Lion’s Gate", where it was decided to ban her from Al-Aqsa Mosque for a week.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, freelance journalist NAJWA ADNAN AKLIK (27 years old) was sitting in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque around 4:30PM, and suddenly she saw four police officers heading towards her quickly, and she saw them surrounding her from all sides, asking her for her ID card and shouting at her loudly.
Police officers escorted the journalist to Bab Al-Asbat area, where seven of them surrounded her until they checked her identity and transferred her to the investigation center in Bab al-Asbat. She waited for more than an hour, until an officer came and gave her an appointment for an interview the next day at 12:00PM at the investigation center in Bab al-Khalil area.
The next day, Wednesday corresponding to 9th August, the journalist was present at the appointed time at the investigation center and waited for several hours (even after the afternoon according to her estimate) before she entered a hearing committee consisting of five members in addition to the officer, which ended with the decision to be banned from Al-Aqsa Mosque and its gates for a week. She was accused of inciting the killing of settlers, entering without a permit, and provoking the occupation soldiers. She was also accused that her presence is dangerous Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Another interview was scheduled during the same week, but she did not go and she appointed a lawyer to receive the file and did not receive a response until the date of the interview.
11th August - The Israeli occupation forces attacked, pushed and shouted at a Palestine TV reporter in the town of Beit Dajan and obstructed his work, east of Nablus, while covering the weekly anti-settlement march in the town.
According to investigations by MADA researcher, journalist MOHAMMED ABDEL KARIM AL-KHATIB (34 years old), during his coverage of the weekly march, was subjected to obstruction of work, threats, persecution, and harassment by occupation soldiers. The occupation soldiers impose an imaginary line on the land where the demonstration is taking place, and the occupation soldiers prevent journalists and citizens from crossing this imaginary line.
During the coverage, the occupation soldiers attacked the journalist and began to push him while shouting at him. One of the soldiers tried to hit him with his hand, forcing AL-KHATIB to raise his hand to confront the soldier’s hand. As a result, the soldier began screaming and threatening with arrest and assault.
AL-KHATIB and the cameraman who accompanied him moved away to cover the march in another direction, so the occupation soldiers chased them again and shouted at them. The occupation soldiers also fired gas bombs at all participants in the march, including journalists.
16th August - The WhatsApp Administration deleted the personal account of journalist AYMAN ABU SHANAB, who works for Al-Ghad TV, for the second time in two months, but he was able to restore the account later.
16th August - An Israeli police force raided the house of the journalist DIALA JWEIHAN’s family in the town of Silwan, and searched the house for more than three hours in the presence of sniffer dogs. The reasons for the storming were not known.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, an occupation police force stormed the family home of journalist DIALA NAYEF JWEIHAN, located in Al-Thawri neighborhood in the town of Silwan in the city of Jerusalem on Wednesday evening.
The officers searched the house completely for three and a half hours with the presence of sniffer dogs and wreaked havoc on the house after removing everyone from inside except for DIALA's father, who remained with them during the search.
The reasons for the raid or the purpose of the searches were not known, as the search warrant was handed over from the Israeli police bearing the name of the journalist Diala’s father. No other decision or summons was received after the inspection was completed and the police officers withdrew.
17th August - On Thursday evening, the Israeli occupation forces arrested journalist MOHAMMED AHMAD NAZZAL (24 years old) from the city of Qalqilya and interrogated him after detaining him on Allenby Bridge while on his way to Jordan. They prevented him from traveling and released him after five days of detention.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, journalist NAZZAL, a student at the Faculty of Media at Birzeit University and working as a photojournalist for “Al-Fajr Al-Jadeed” TV, was arrested after being detained on “Allenby” Bridge by the occupation intelligence for six hours while trying to travel to Jordan.
At around 04:00PM on Thursday afternoon, the cameraman NAZZAL arrived at "Allenby" Bridge, and while he was presenting the passport to the employee for passage, it was taken away from him and he asked to wait, then the occupation officers interrogated him about his work and the reason for travel, and told him that he was arrested.
During NAZZAL's detention on the Bridge, which started from 04:00PM in the afternoon and continued until 10:00PM, MOHAMMED was interrogated by the occupation officers, and after the end of the detention and investigation, he was transferred to an occupation army camp in the city of Jericho, and then he was transferred to Gush Etzion camp.
NAZZAL was not subjected to investigation during his detention, which lasted for five days, with the exception of the last day of detention, when he was transferred from “Gush Etzion” Detention Center to “Ofer”, and there he was interrogated about general matters (his media work, his studies, where he is traveling, the reason for travel, and if he has been previously arrested).
The occupation authorities released journalist NAZZAL on August 21 after a five-day detention.
17th August - The occupation police arrested freelance journalist AHMED AL-SAFADI from Al-Aqsa Mosque after preventing him from retrieving the ID card held at one of Al-Aqsa’s gates, and referred him to the court, which ruled that he be banned from Al-Aqsa Mosque for a month and an unpaid fine of 5,000 shekels.
In his testimony to MADA researcher, journalist AHMED AL-SAFADI said that he went to Al-Aqsa Mosque at around 05:00PM on Thursday evening, accompanied by two other people, and a police officer obstructed their entry, seized their IDs, and searched journalist AL-SAFADI’s bag in a provocative manner.
The policeman returned everyone’s identity cards and allowed them to enter, except for AL-SAFADI’s ID, which he took and told him to return through the same gate to take it back.
The journalist asked to retrieve his ID to leave the place, but his request was rejected, so he went back to Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the same policeman stopped him again, at that time the journalist asked to meet the responsible officer due to his prior knowledge of this officer, who is known for his racism, and despite his clarification that he is a journalist and showing his press card, the officer summoned police officers to arrest him.
The journalist stayed in "Al-Qishla" Interrogation Center for a full day, where he was questioned on charges of beating the policeman. He was transferred to the court the next day, 18th August. The court decided to ban him from Al-Aqsa Mosque for a month and imposed an unpaid fine of 5,000 shekels on him.
He was also summoned the next day to the trial again on the same charges, and the journalist went the next day at around 1:00PM to the interrogation center and denied all the charges against him.
17th August - Instagram platform deleted the account of Watan TV photojournalist HADI MAJID SABARNA (25 years old) completely for six days before he was able to restore it after he posted a picture of the funeral of the martyrs of Tulkarm Battalion.
19th August - The occupation forces abused a group of journalists, detained them for half an hour, and assaulted them in a barbaric manner while they were present to cover the events at “Huwara” Checkpoint in the city of Nablus on Tuesday evening.
According to field investigations by MADA researcher, the reporter of the Quds News Network, ABDULLAH TAYSEER BAHASH (26 years old), and his journalist colleague at Nablus Post Website, SHADIA ABDEL RAOUF BANI SHAMSA (22 years old), went at around 05:00PM in the evening on Tuesday to “Huwara” checkpoint to cover the shooting that took place in the town, and the events that followed.
When the journalists arrived, the checkpoint was closed and there was a crowd of vehicles and citizens. Journalist BAHASH got out of the vehicle to cover what was happening at the checkpoint in terms of obstruction to the movement of citizens. Then a soldier who was on the military tower started shouting at them to get away, which they responded to.
After journalists "Bahash" and "Bani Shamsa" returned to the vehicle to pass through the checkpoint, the occupation soldiers stopped the vehicle, took the journalists out of the vehicle, and asked them for their ID cards. The soldiers forced the journalists to sit on the ground and in the dirt, with their hands above their heads, while insulting them.
After that, the four soldiers asked ABDULLAH to stand up and lift his clothes off his body, as well as lift his pants off his feet. This was so embarrassing to ABDULLAH before the soldiers took him to detain him in the (military tower), where the soldiers assaulted him with beatings and insults. Every time they beat him, he asked his colleague SHADIA to film him being beaten. He was beaten with the soldiers’ feet and their rifles. One of the soldiers even put his rifle on the journalist’s head and said to SHADIA, “Watch how I’m going to kill him”.
The occupation soldiers seized the journalists’ ID cards, searched journalist SHADIA’s bag, shouted and insulted them, and prevented them from changing their positions during detention.
Journalist RANEEN SAWAFTA, a Reuters cameraman, was located about 200 meters away from them and tried to film them, and when the soldiers saw her, they followed her and fired stun grenades at her, to push her away from the place.
After the detention, which lasted for about half an hour, the occupation soldiers handed the ID cards to ABDULLAH BAHASH, accompanied by insults and screams. When the journalist returned to the vehicle, the soldier said to him, “Remember me well,” in a threatening tone. He was the soldier who put the gun to his head and threatened to shoot him.
ABDULLAH BAHASH and SHADIA BANI SHAMSA were able to leave Huwara checkpoint after being assaulted, and the soldiers allowed them to pass through the checkpoint towards the town of Huwara.
19th August - The occupation forces obstructed the work of a group of journalists and media crews and prevented them from covering the current events in the city of Nablus on Saturday after a shooting attack occurred in the area, while a group of journalists were targeted with tear gas bombs extensively and directly in the evening.
According to what MADA researcher found, a group of journalists arrived in the center of the town of "Hawara" near the intersection of the town of "Beita" at about 3:50PM on Saturday afternoon to cover the consequences of the operation carried out in the area, as the occupation soldiers began to close the main road of the town in the face of movement of Palestinians after the killing of settlers and the withdrawal of the person who implemented the operation.
Al-Ghad TV reporter, KHALED BUDAIR, and the TV cameraman, SHADI JARAR’A, arrived, where the occupation soldiers prevented the TV reporter from covering. The soldiers stampede and harassed the work crew, which was 100 meters away from the site of the operation after it had prepared the cameras in preparation for the live broadcast. Despite this, the crew stayed to cover events in town until midnight.
SEDQI RAYAN, a journalist with Quds Vid Network, 22 years old, said that at around 6:00PM, the occupation forces obstructed the work of journalists by pushing and preventing coverage, so that some of them were in a live broadcast of the events, as a number of soldiers put their hands in front of the cameras, and continued to push the journalists back until they completely removed them from the scene of the shooting. This lasted for more than twenty minutes in light of the journalists’ refusal to turn back.
At approximately 10:20PM, photojournalist YAZAN HAMAYEL (22 years old), who works for “J-Media” Agency, withdrew from the scene of the operation in the town of “Huwara” towards the town of “Beita,” where the occupation forces had begun the search for the perpetrator of the shooting. There, the cameraman HAMAYEL and a group of journalists: SEDQI RAYAN/HISHAM ABU SHAKRA/ABDULLAH BAHASH were subjected to intense and direct fire from tear gas bombs, and they felt that the soldiers intended to hit them with the body of the bomb, not its gas, as two of these bombs nearly hit him in the head.
On the same day, Ultra Palestine website cameraman WAHHAJ BANI MUFLEH (24 years old) was injured by a gas bomb targeted by the occupation forces in the town of Beita, southeast of Nablus, while covering the storming of the town.
While the cameraman was in a place far from the clashes in a neutral area overlooking the clashes and the storming, and he was wearing his press uniform, the occupation soldiers fired a gas bomb at the young men who were in the street where the clashes were taking place. Then WAHHAJ was targeted with the second bomb directly from a distance of no more than 10 meters, where he was injured in his left foot. After that, he was transferred by ambulance to "Beita" Health Center, where he was given the necessary treatment. The free journalist NASSIM MUALLA (26 years old) was also wounded by the same bomb with a minor injury to his left foot that did not require treatment.
On the same day and during the same event, the freelance journalist AYMAN FAISAL QAWAREQ (36 years old) arrived at Hawara checkpoint 10 minutes after the shooting took place. While documenting the events, one of the occupation soldiers attacked him, threatened him, and confiscated his phone to erase the video clips he had filmed, except that AYMAN had already sent what he had filmed.
AYMAN insisted on getting his personal cell phone from the soldier, in light of his confirmation that he was a journalist and that he was doing his work, as he was wearing a press uniform and carrying his press card, which prompted the responsible officer to ask the soldier to hand over the phone to him on the condition that he stay away from the place. The phone was recovered, and AYMAN was moved 150 meters away from the place, on the condition that he does not publish any clip showing pictures of the soldiers. The soldier threatened him that if he published it, he would be arrested, and he photographed AYMAN’s personal ID in a kind of threat.
Also present among the journalists were Al Jazeera reporter GUEVARA ISHAQ AL-BADIRI and the TV crew who was accompanying her, and journalist MUJAHID TABANJA (24 years old), who was one of the first journalists to arrive, as the soldiers began asking him to leave the place and threatened him with forcible deportation. He continued to refuse to leave the area, and after the arrival of journalists covering the event, they were all subjected to obstruction in their work and deportation from the scene of the event.
20th August - The Israeli Occupation Forces obstructed the work of Al-Ghad TV in the village of Aqraba, south of Nablus, detained and searched him, and then detained the reporter KHALED BUDEIR for about an hour in the sun on Sunday to cover the siege of the town.
In the crew’s statement to MADA, Al-Ghad TV reporter KHALED BUDAIR and the cameraman SHADI JARAR’A headed in their work vehicle at about 11:15AM, on Sunday morning to the village of Aqraba, south of the city of Nablus, and when they arrived at Zaatara Military Checkpoint, their car was stopped and closed, and the barrier was closed both ways.
After the soldiers saw the press cards and crew equipment, they stopped him, physically searched the journalists, and provocatively searched the vehicle for 20 minutes without knowing the reason. After they allowed them to pass, the crew continued on its way to the village of Aqraba, which had been under an Israeli siege since Saturday.
Al-Ghad TV crew entered the village, finished their work, and lined up in a long line of cars on the main street closed by a military checkpoint. They waited for about two hours for 12 cars to pass before their turn came.
When the soldiers saw the press cards, they ordered the reporter, “BUDAIR” to get out of the car, and ordered his colleague, the cameraman, JARAR’A, to continue on his way. The journalist remained on the street under the hot sun at 01:00PM in the afternoon, for about a full hour.
He tried to find out from the soldier the reason for his detention under the sun, but he shouted at him every time. After about an hour, he released him without knowing the reason for his detention, as he had become severely exhausted from the hot sun.
20th August - “WhatsApp” Application deleted the personal account of the reporter of the Local Newspaper, “Al-Quds”, and a producer on “Al-Jazeera” TV, journalist ALI AL-SAMOUDI (54 years old). The journalist was surprised by the sudden closure of his account, and after following up and corresponding with the responsible authorities in “WhatsApp” regarding this, he did not receive a response. But those interested and specialists told him that this is a restriction and deletion of the account.
21st August - The Israeli occupation forces attacked a group of journalists and media crews in the southern area of the city of Hebron, or what is known as “Sadat al-Fahs” where the occupation forces closed the area under the pretext that a settler vehicle had been exposed to gunfire in the place.
The occupation forces detained the reporter of "Watan" TV and "Quds News Network" SARI SHARIF JARADAT (38 years old) for three hours while covering the area. In his testimony to a MADA researcher, the journalist JARADAT stated that he went at around 11:00AM on Monday to the "Sadat al-Fahs" area located at the southern entrance to Hebron.
As soon as the journalist arrived at the intersection connected to the bypass line, where soldiers set up a military point, a large force of soldiers was deployed in the place. Journalist JARADAT set up the camera and prepared it to start filming. Ten soldiers approached him and were brandishing weapons, while one of them shouted at him and asked him to stop filming. Meanwhile, one of the soldiers approached him and grabbed him by the neck, telling him: It is banned to take pictures, and made him sit on the ground, while two other soldiers surrounded him, pointing weapons at him.
Moments later, the soldier asked journalist JARADAT to open the camera to watch the videotaped materials. After an argument between journalist JARADAT and the soldier, JARADAT opened the camera so that the soldier could see the videotaped materials. After making sure that he had not filmed anything, he detained him sitting on the ground, while the two soldiers remained standing next to him. Journalist JARADAT continued to be detained until 2:00PM, without being allowed to go to the bathroom or even drink water, after which he was asked to leave and not film.
On the same day, freelance journalist IBRAHIM AL-SINJLAWI went to cover the same operation, so the occupation soldiers detained him in his private vehicle for a few minutes and did not allow him to enter except after checking his identity and press card.
After he arrived at the place, he started covering the storming of shops and citizens’ homes and attacking civilians at a gate they closed, which disturbed the occupation soldiers and made them stand in front of the camera to block it, and they changed direction and prevented the cameraman from AL-SINJLAWI from moving in the area during filming, despite the Israeli journalists easily performing their work.
After the filming ended, he asked an officer to allow him to pass through the gate to leave the area and return to Jerusalem, but he refused despite showing his press card and personal identification. When he asked him about his name, he replied mockingly "Michael Jordan."
The cameraman contacted the Israeli police, but they told him that they could not help him with the checkpoints, even though there was no checkpoint, and they were just soldiers in the street.
The occupation soldiers also attacked the crew of "Palestine" TV in the city of Hebron by pushing and preventing them from covering the closure of the main road linking the city of Halhul and the city of Hebron on Monday afternoon, as a result of the shooting at a settler vehicle.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, the Palestine TV crew, consisting of the Director of the South Office, JIHAD ALI AL-QAWASMEH, reporter AZMI WALID BANAT, and photojournalists IYAD ABDEL HAFEEZ AL-HASHLAMOUN and ALAA NADER AL-HADDAD, went to the bridge area linking the city of Halhul to the city of Hebron, where the occupation forces closed the main road around 11:00AM, and hundreds of vehicles and citizens were detained there.
While the crew was conducting an interview with a citizen, two soldiers approached him and prevented them from conducting the interview, while a soldier approached the camera and closed the lens with his hand to prevent them from filming, and he was shouting at AL-HASHLAMOUN, the cameraman, to get away from the scene. Another soldier pushed the reporter AZMI BANAT with his hand to stop filming and end the interview.
The crew refused to leave the place, and the soldiers’ harassment continued for about five minutes. One of the soldiers threw a stun grenade between the crew’s feet, which exploded without causing any injuries, while the soldiers’ assault continued with the same mechanism until the end of the live broadcast.
The crew then headed to a remote area to complete the filming, but the two soldiers followed them and were shouting to stop filming and leave the place, while the soldier re-blocked the camera lens with his hand, and another soldier violently pushed the reporter, BANAT, and the cameraman, AL-HASHLAMOUN, with his hand again, shouting, “Stop filming”. The crew left after that for fear of being detained after completing the necessary report.
At approximately 11:30AM, on the same day, the occupation soldiers forced three journalists to delete the filmed materials from their phones under threat and prevented them from covering the events at the southern entrance to the city of Hebron.
According to the investigations of the field researcher at MADA, three journalists (Reuters cameraman, YUSRI MAHMOUD AL-JAMAL, journalist MUSA ISSA AL-QAWASMEH, who works as a cameraman for Reuters, and the cameraman of the Turkish Anadolu Agency, MAMOUN WAZWAZ), went towards the area at about 11:30AM in the morning, on Monday to the area of (Sadat Al-Fahs), the southern entrance to the city of Hebron linked to the bypass line (60), after it was closed by the occupation forces.
The three journalists went to an overlooking area to film what was happening. During that time, an officer accompanied by a number of soldiers approached them and informed them that filming was banned. The three journalists tried to talk to the officer, who asked them to delete what had been filmed. After an argument, the journalists were forced, under threat, to delete the filmed material. While one of the soldiers tried to take the phone of journalist YUSRI EL-JAMAL, he pushed him and shouted at him, forcing the three journalists to leave the place for fear of being detained.
21st August - The cameraman of "Masdar News" Network in Gaza Strip, MOHAMMED QANDIL, was injured by a gas bomb in the lower back, fired by the occupation soldiers while covering the events in "Malka" Camp, east of Gaza City. He was transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital to receive the necessary treatment.
According to MADA field researcher’s follow-up, the cameraman of “Masdar News Network” MOHAMMED OMAR QANDIL (35 years old) was injured at around 5:30PM on Monday with a gas bomb in the lower back on the right side by the Israeli occupation soldiers, while he was covering a peaceful march that took place to commemorate the 54th anniversary. To burn Al-Aqsa Mosque in Malka area, east of Gaza City.
The journalist was about 250 meters away from the occupation soldiers and about 100 meters away from the demonstrators, when the occupation soldiers targeted him with a gas bomb directly despite him wearing press uniforms marked with “Press”.
After the injury, the journalist was transferred by a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance to Al-Shifa Hospital, where the necessary tests were performed for him. The x-ray showed bruises in the lower back area on the right side as a result of his injury with the gas bomb. He left the hospital after two hours.
22nd August - The occupation forces detained two journalists and deleted the video material from the phone and camera, while they were at the eastern entrance to the city of Hebron on Tuesday morning to cover the soldiers’ assault on citizens at the checkpoint.
According to the investigations of the field researcher at MADA, at around 09:00AM on Tuesday morning, both journalists, ABDUL MOHSEN TAYSEER ABDEL MOHSEN SHALALDEH, the cameraman of J-Media Agency, and the freelance journalist LOAY MAHBASH OMAR, went to the eastern entrance of the city of Hebron, near the junction of "Beit Einoun" road, which is linked to the bypass line (60), where the occupation soldiers set up a military checkpoint and detained and searched dozens of Palestinian vehicles and checked the citizens’ ID cards.
The two journalists took different angles to cover the events. While filming what was happening, two soldiers approached them, and stopped journalist LOAY, and informed him that filming was banned. They also asked him to delete the video material from the mobile phone. Despite his attempt to talk to the soldiers and show the press card, one of the soldiers took his personal phone, deleted the filmed material, and shouted at him to get away from the place.
Meanwhile, the soldiers were detaining journalist SHALALDEH, and they also forced him to delete the materials filmed on the camera in his possession, and then forced him under threat to leave the place.
23rd August - The "Tik Tok" platform deleted a video on the account of the freelance journalist, MOHAMMED ALI ATEEQ (31 years), of a young man while bidding farewell to his family in the city of Hebron before his arrest by the occupation soldiers, and the notice indicated that the deletion was due to what he called incitement to violence.
24th August - On Thursday 24th August, the Israeli occupation forces prevented journalist ALAA AL-RIMAWI from traveling to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan via Al-Karama crossing after waiting for several hours, and interrogated him about his journalistic work.
In his testimony to a MADA researcher, the Director of J-Media stated that he went to "Al-Karama" crossing (the part run by the occupation authorities from the land crossings separating the West Bank and Jordan) at around 10:00AM on Thursday in order to travel to Jordan, and after several waiting hours, the occupation intelligence officer informed him of the decision to prevent him from traveling or moving outside the country.
Although the journalist AL-RIMAWI had previously filed a case with the occupation authorities against preventing him from traveling, and after examining the ban on the Coordinator’s Application (the coordinator of the occupation authorities in the West Bank), it was found that travel was available to him and was not banned, and as a result, he went to the crossing.
It is noteworthy that the journalist has been banned from movement and travel for more than 27 years, and AL-RIMAWI was not informed of the reasons for the travel ban, and they told him that he should review the headquarters of the Civil Administration of the occupation authorities in "Beit El" settlement.
25th August - The Israeli occupation forces brutally assaulted photojournalist MOHAMMED ABU THABET in the town of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, on Friday, during the weekly march against settlement in the town.
Freelance journalist MOHAMMED RADWAN ABU THABET (34 years old) was present in the town of Beit Dajan to cover the popular march that began at about 1:00PM after the end of Friday prayers from the town of Beit Dajan towards the road that has been closed for years, as the occupation forces are present in the area and have set up a barrier as a dividing line that citizens are required not to overstep.
While the cameraman ABU THABET was covering, he was prevented from doing so and one of the soldiers tried to withdraw and seize his phone. He then dragged him to one of the military jeeps and assaulted him, but he was able to resist him and escape with his phone. A few minutes later, he was physically assaulted by at least 7 soldiers with hands and rifles for a period of minutes, which led to him sustaining some minor wounds in his hands as a result of the collision and the contact of the rifles with him. During the assault, the soldiers were screaming at him, and the officer was ordering them to arrest him.
25th August - The account of Sanad News Agency reporter YOUSEF AL-FAQIH (38 years old) on “WhatsApp” Application was subjected to deletion and restriction, as he received a notice preventing him from using the application permanently under the pretext of violating the standards of the application without specifying a reason for the ban and cancellation of the account.
27th August - The “Instagram” platform deleted the account of the photojournalist of “Watan” TV, HADI MAJED SABARNEH, for the second time during the month of August, after he published a picture of a man with a stand with a picture of the martyrs of Nablus on it, noting that there are more than 9 thousand followers of the account.
29th August- The occupation forces detained the crew of Al-Ghad Al-Arabi TV for about an hour and a half in Al-Buwairah area, east of the city of Hebron, and confiscated their press and personal cards.
According to the investigations of MADA’s field researcher, on Tuesday, at around 11:00AM, Al-Ghad Al-Arabi TV crew, consisting of (journalist RAED “MOHAMMED SAMIR” AL-SHARIF, the TV’s reporter, and the TV’s cameraman, JAMIL HISHAM SALHAB), went to Al-Buwairah area, east of the city of Hebron, to cover the demolition work of a house implemented by the occupation forces under the pretext of constructing without a permit.
Immediately upon the arrival of the two journalists to an area close to the demolition site, accompanied by a number of citizens, they were intercepted by a number of occupation soldiers, who asked everyone to hand in their ID cards. After a few minutes, the citizens were allowed to leave, while the soldiers kept the ID cards of journalists SALHAB and AL-SHARIF in their possession.
The soldiers then asked for press cards for the crew, during which one of the soldiers informed them that they could not leave the place of detention until new orders were reached via the communication device. The two journalists stayed in the place for about an hour and a half, after which the cards were returned to the cameraman, JAMIL, while the soldiers informed the journalist, RAED AL-SHARIF, that there was a problem with the Israeli intelligence service (the Shin Bet) and asked him to wait for some time. After about five minutes, the soldier came and handed the honorable journalist his personal and press card and told him that the Israeli Intelligence Service (the Shin Bet) would contact him by phone. After that, the two journalists went to the demolition site, as the vehicles were about to be completed.
30th August - The occupation forces prevented a group of journalists from covering the southern entrance to the city of Hebron on Wednesday morning after opening fire at a Palestinian vehicle and wounding its driver. They also assaulted WAFA Agency reporter by beating and pushing them with their hands.
WAFA Agency reporter, journalist MASHHOUR HUSSEIN AL-WAHWAH, told MADA researcher that he went at about 11:30AM, on Wednesday to the entrance to the southern city of Hebron, “Hajai Entrance” where the occupation forces had opened fire on a Palestinian vehicle and wounded its driver under the pretext of trying to carry out a ramming attack.
The journalist AL-WAHWAH arrived, and the occupation soldiers were all around the place and closing the road in front of Palestinian vehicles coming from the bypass road. During that, the journalist approached to film what was happening, and one of the soldiers present there pointed his weapon at him and asked him to move away from the place and stop filming. The journalist AL-WAHWAH tried to talk to the soldier and showed him his press card, and although he was wearing a press uniform, the soldier refused to deal with him and assaulted him by pushing him.
A number of other soldiers approached and started pushing the journalist AL-WAHWAH and kicking him with their feet, until he retreated, while a number of journalists arrived there, including: SALAH TAMIZI from "WAFA" Agency, "Anadolu Agency" cameraman MAMOUN WAZOUZ, "Reuters" cameraman, MUSA AL-QAWASMEH and journalist MUSAB SHAWER.
The journalists all moved away to an area far from the soldiers and overlooking the scene of the accident to cover the event. A number of soldiers followed them, shouted at them, and asked them to move away, and threatened to shoot them, forcing them to leave the place.
