Ramallah – May 3rd, 2024. The month of April 2024 witnessed a decline in the number of violations against media freedoms in Palestine, as the “MADA” Center monitored and documented a total of 35 attacks, compared to a total of 63 attacks recorded during the previous month of March.
The attacks recorded during last April were limited to Israeli attacks and those committed by Palestinian parties in the West Bank, as no violations attributed to social media companies and networks were documented.
Israeli Violations:
The number of documented Israeli violations during the month of February decreased by 30 points compared to the previous month, as the extent of a total of 30 attacks committed by the occupation forces and authorities was documented, representing 86% of the total violations for the month.
Most of the Israeli violations committed during the past month fall within the types that threaten the lives of journalists, most notably the killing of four journalists in the Gaza Strip as a result of the continuation of the war against the Strip since October 7th, 2023. Followed in terms of number and seriousness by the physical injuries that appear in the victims’ testimonies and the circumstances in which soldiers deliberately targeted journalists to keep them away from covering field events, as the Turkish TRT Agency photographer SAMI SHEHADEH was injured in the Gaza Strip by a shell in his leg, which led to its immediate amputation, in addition to being injured by fragments in his right arm while covering in the Gaza Strip. On the same day, a CNN cameraman was injured by fragments of another shell in both hands. In addition to the assault on the freelance journalist AHMED JALAJEL, by beating him with a baton in the city of Jerusalem on his chest and leg, and the assault on journalist NADINE JAAFAR from the “Alasima News Network” by hitting her on the shoulder with a baton while covering events in the city of Jerusalem. Police officers also severely beat photojournalist SAIF AL-QAWASMI while he was in Al-Aqsa courtyards, before he was arrested and banished from Al-Aqsa Mosque twice.
The occupation forces also arrested journalist HAMZA MAHMOUD KHADER and sentenced him to one month in prison on the pretext of being in Al-Aqsa Mosque without a permit. They also arrested the freelance journalist ASMAA HARISH from the town of Beitunia and transferred her to administrative detention for 3 months.
The occupation forces detained Palestine TV cameraman AHMED HAMIDAT in the town of Bani Naim in the city of Hebron, under the pretext of not wearing a journalistic uniform. The occupation soldiers also detained journalist AMER AL-SHALOUDI and journalist TARIQ KHAMAYSA and deleted the filmed materials from his camera, in addition to the detention of the Al Jazeera channel crew while they were between the town of Jayyus and Al-Nabi Elias for about a third of an hour.
A military jeep attacked the car of Al-Jazeera correspondent LAITH JAAR, causing it to be damaged. The occupation soldiers also targeted journalists MOHAMMED TURKMAN and journalist MOHAMMED AWAD to prevent them from covering the events in the town of Al-Mughair. They also prevented the Al-Ghad Al-Arabi crew, Al-Jazeera crew, and Al-Jazeera photographer from covering the demolition of two houses in the town of Bani Naim, east of Hebron.
The occupation intelligence renewed the administrative detention of the prisoner, journalist MUSTAFA AL-KHAWAJA, from the town of Ni’lin, west of Ramallah, for a period of 6 months. The occupation authorities also renewed the administrative detention of the journalist and student at Birzeit University, HATEM HAMDAN, for a period of 4 months.
Palestinian Violations:
Palestinian violations witnessed a slight increase during the month of April, as a total of five violations occurred in the West Bank, representing 14% of all documented violations, compared to three Palestinian violations documented during the previous month of March.
These violations were limited to the Military Intelligence Service arresting journalist KHALIL DHUWAIB and releasing him after six days, the Preventive Security Organization arresting the student at Al-Quds Open University, IBRAHIM SABARNEH, and confiscating two computers from his home, and journalist LAITH JAAR being threatened with death and shooting by Palestinian security personnel. The Ramallah Magistrate Court also sentenced journalist FIRAS TANINA to 90 days in prison in absentia on the basis of a complaint he had filed against the Prime Minister’s Office in 2018.
Martyr Journalists during the Month of March
|
Journalist Name |
Martyrdom Date |
Work Agency |
|
|
1. |
TARIQ AL-SAYED ABU SAKHIL |
04/04/2024 |
Quds Radio |
|
2. |
AMNA HAMEED |
24/04/2024 |
Khansa Center |
|
3. |
MOHAMMED BASSAM AL-JAMAL |
25/04/2024 |
Palestine Times Agency |
|
4. |
SALEM ABU TAYUR |
29/04/2024 |
Journalist |
Details of violations:
April 1st. On the evening of Monday, the first of April, the occupation forces arrested freelance journalist HAMZA MAHMOUD KHADER (23 years old) from the “Shweika” suburb in the city of Tulkarm while he was in Al-Aqsa Mosque in the city of Jerusalem. He was transferred to the “Al-Qishla” detention center on charges of entering Al-Aqsa without a permit.
On Wednesday, the first of May, the Magistrate Court in the city of Jerusalem (affiliated with the occupation authorities) issued a decision to imprison journalist HAMZA MAHMOUD KHADER for a month, and the journalist is scheduled to be released on the same day, after completing the legal procedures and expiring his entire sentence.
April 1st. Al Jazeera correspondent, journalist LAITH JAAR, was subjected to a series of death and shooting threats via phone calls, some of which were made by members of the Palestinian security services, due to covering confrontations and clashes between militants and the security services.
According to the journalist’s testimony to a MADA center researcher, the threats began to inflict on him since March 21st and continued for about four days, and were represented by receiving about 45 calls and 30 messages, all of which contained a death threat, shooting him in the foot, and accusing him of treason and collaborating with the Israelis because of his coverage of the confrontations and clashes between militants and the security services in the cities of Tulkarm and Jenin. The threats against the journalist returned on the first of April, and after searching for the numbers, he discovered that some of them belonged to members of the security services, and the journalist informed his channel about these threats that he received.
April 3rd. The Israeli occupation forces arrested the freelance journalist ASMA NOUH HARISH (31 years old) after storming her home in the town of “Beitunia”, west of Ramallah, at dawn on Wednesday, and took her to “Ofer” prison. She was transferred on April 18th to administrative detention for 3 months. She is currently in "Damoun" detention center.
According to her mother’s testimony to MADA’s researcher, at around 3:30 am on Wednesday April 3rd, the occupation vehicles raided the town of “Beitunia,” specifically the vicinity of the building in which ASMA’s family lives, accompanied by a large arrest bus, where the soldiers blew up the entrance to the building and then stormed it and went on towards her place (specifically the fourth floor where ASMA lives).
Large forces (about 30 soldiers) raided the home of journalist ASMA, after knocking on the door and it being opened by ASMA’s mother. The soldiers began to ask about those in the house and asked that all the girls in the building be brought to the house. They asked them for their IDs and when ASMA gave her ID to the officer, he told her that she was to be Detained.
The occupation soldiers stayed in the house for between 10 and 15 minutes. The soldiers did not conduct any searches, vandalism, or break-ins in the house. They blindfolded the journalist, tied her hands, and left the place. While she was leaving with the soldiers, she repeated her request to take care of the child, Karam, the son of her captive brother AHMED, and this is what prompted the soldier to shout at her, and when she arrived at the entrance of the building, her family heard the sound of her screaming, indicating that she was being beaten. According to the HaMoked Foundation's follow-up: The family was informed that the journalist is in “Ofer” Prison.
On April 18th, the occupation court confirmed the administrative detention of the journalist for a period of 3 months after the occupation authorities issued an administrative detention decision against her on April 9th. The journalist is currently in “Damoun” prison, and no lawyer has been able to visit her yet, and she lives like the rest of the female prisoners in Difficult conditions, according to the testimonies of female prisoners who were released from prison during the past few days.
April 4th. The martyrdom of the journalist TARIQ AL-SAYED ABU SAKHIL, who works as a digital editor at Quds radio, during the storming of Al-Shifa Medical Complex.
April 3rd. The occupation forces detained the Al-Jazeera TV crew at dawn on Wednesday for about a third of an hour and verbally assaulted them with insults while they were between the villages of Jayyus and Al-Nabi Elias to cover an operation that took place in the place.
In his testimony to a MADA researcher, Al Jazeera channel correspondent in the northern West Bank, LAITH JAAR (27 years old), said that he went at around 3:30 am on Wednesday, accompanied by photographer MALEK JAARI, to the area between the town of Jayyus and the village of Al-Nabi Elias to cover how the Israelis operate in the area holding an operation takes place in place.
The crew arrived at the place and set up their cameras and lighting devices to identify them and their location. After a quarter of an hour, a military jeep raided the place and five soldiers came out, showing signs of alert, with their weapons loaded, shouting and insulting. They asked the crew members to sit on the ground while they screamed and called them “saboteurs” despite the clarity of their identity.
The soldiers forced the crew to move to the side of the road and sit on thorns, and searched them, their vehicle, and their press equipment. Then the officer returned to shouting at them, insulting them, and threatening them with arrest and targeting if they remained in the place. He also warned them not to return to the place without having written permission from the Israeli Broadcasting Authority and then they forced them out of the place.
April 12th. The occupation soldiers deliberately targeted journalists MOHAMMED TURKMAN and MOHAMMED AWAD with tear gas canisters. They also targeted journalist TURKMAN with a rubber bullet that did not hit him, while covering the settlers’ storming of the town of “Al-Mughayir” on Friday.
According to the investigations of MADA’s field researcher, on Friday, settlers stormed the town of “Al-Mughayir” in large numbers, and journalist MOHAMMED TURKMAN (26 years old) from “Al Jazeera Mubasher” and journalist MOHAMMED AWAD went to cover the raid while wearing full journalistic uniforms, as they were far away from the settlers. However, the occupation soldiers deliberately fired tear gas canisters at them.
As the confrontations intensified and the settlers launched a major attack, the coverage became from a closer location, and while a TURKMAN was near a group of citizens (30-40), it was observed in a video clip that an officer from the occupation army signaled the soldiers with clear orders to target him (the journalist) and open fire. This is what actually happened, as a soldier targeted him with at least one rubber bullet.
TURKMAN felt the bullet pass by him, but it hit the wooden boards that were directly behind him, which prompted him to withdraw to the back, especially since one bullet was directed at him despite the presence of citizens around him, and it came directly and quickly without any warning from the officers or soldiers.
April 12th. CNN cameraman MOHAMMED SAWALHI was injured by shrapnel from an artillery shell fired at him by occupation soldiers, which hit his hands, while covering the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Nuseirat camp in the Gaza Strip. Journalist SAMI SHEHADEH also suffered an amputation in his right leg after being targeted by an artillery shell in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, at around 8:00 am on Friday morning, journalist HASSAN SAWALHI, a CNN photographer, arrived in the Nuseirat camp area in the central Gaza Strip, after the occupation army announced the withdrawal of its forces from the area, as the journalist wanted to document what they left behind of destruction in the area. During this time, the journalist was stopping in one of the streets, accompanied by Al-Ghad Al-Arabi correspondent, journalist MAHMOUD AL-LOUH, who was some distance away from him on the other side, where one of the occupation soldiers, invisible to the journalists SAWALHA and AL-LOUH, was firing bullets at them, which hit the road and the concrete walls near them. Journalist SAWALHI tried to be in an area hidden from the gunfire, near a house. He began photographing military vehicles, and around 9:00 am, one of them fired an artillery shell at him, resulting in him being hit by shrapnel in his hands, and causing him to fall to the ground. A number of citizens and journalists were able to transport him between the alleys of houses and reach a journalist’s vehicle, which took him to Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat area, and then he was transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the Deir Al-Balah area, where doctors were able to extract shrapnel from his hands. He remained in treatment for two days before being discharged from the hospital.
At approximately 11:00 am on the same day, journalist SAMI MOHAMMED SHEHADEH, a photographer for the Turkish TRT agency, went to the Nuseirat camp area in the middle of the Gaza Strip, to cover what the occupation forces left behind after they withdrew from the area. Immediately upon the journalist’s arrival there, he was accompanied by a number of journalists present in the area to cover the event, and while he positioned himself at the intersection of a side road leading to a residential neighborhood, an Israeli tank fired a single shell towards the place where journalist SAMI SHEHADEH was located, which was not visible to journalist Shehadeh, resulting in an injury to his right foot, an injury that led to its immediate amputation from the knee area, and he was also injured by shrapnel in the right arm. After about 3 minutes, a number of citizens, accompanied by journalists who were present at the scene, were able to transfer journalist SHEHADEH after placing him on a blanket between the alleys and they walked with him for a distance of 150 meters before they reached the vehicle of one of the journalists, which took him to Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat area. From there, he was transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the Deir Al-Balah area, where journalist SHEHADA underwent surgery. Another part of the leg was removed due to the depth of the injury, and several fragments were extracted from the right arm. Journalist SHEHADA is still undergoing treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital awaiting approval of the procedures for his transfer from Gaza Strip abroad to receive treatment.
April 13th. A military jeep attacked the car of Al Jazeera correspondent, journalist LAITH JAAR, damaging it while he was with photographer MAHMOUD FAWZI covering the settlers’ storming of the town of Qusra in the Nablus governorate on Saturday evening.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, the town of Qusra in Nablus Governorate was attacked by settlers on Saturday, April 13th. Al Jazeera correspondent LAITH JAAR (27 years old) went to the north of the West Bank at around six o’clock in the evening to cover the storming of the settlers, accompanied by photographer MOHAMMED FAWZI.
As soon as the journalist arrived at the location in his vehicle carrying press signs, he made sure to park the vehicle in a square away from the events. Immediately after he left the vehicle, carrying the microphone, accompanied by the photographer and camera, he noticed that a military jeep was monitoring them. When they got out of the vehicle, carrying the microphone and the logo, the military jeep attacked the vehicle. He deliberately collided with the Skoda vehicle from behind, and the right rear wing and mirror were damaged.
April 16th. The Palestinian Military Intelligence Service arrested the freelance journalist KHALIL DHUWAIB after summoning him to collect his mobile phone, which had been confiscated from him on July 1st, last year. He was then arrested on charges of possessing weapons, and his detention was extended more than once, most recently until April 22nd, until he was released from the Bethlehem Magistrate Court with a personal guarantee of 2000 dinars.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, on Tuesday, freelance journalist KHALIL KHALED KHALIL DHUWAIB (26 years old), resident of the city of Beit Sahour in the Bethlehem Governorate, received a phone call from the Military Intelligence Service in the city of Bethlehem, asking him to come to the agency’s headquarters to collect his phone, which was confiscated on July 1st, 2023, while he was present for an interview with them, under the pretext of a security check, and as soon as journalist DHUWAIB arrived at the headquarters at around 10:00 am, he was detained until 10:00 pm, and then he was transferred to the headquarters of the General Intelligence Service in the city of Bethlehem.
The next morning, Wednesday, the journalist was presented to the Public Prosecution in the Bethlehem Magistrate Court, and his detention was extended for 24 hours on charges of (weapon possession), and he was returned to the General Intelligence headquarters. On the morning of Thursday April 18th, the journalist was transferred to the Bethlehem Magistrate Court, where the Public Prosecution asked to extend his detention for 15 days to complete the investigation about (possession of weapons). After the lawyer’s pleading and journalist DHUWAIB’s talk to the judge, it became clear that he was being investigated regarding his journalistic work and other matters and it had nothing to do with possession of weapons. The judge issued an order to extend it for only five days, ending on Monday, April 22nd, 2024.
On Monday, April 22nd, the journalist was released from the Bethlehem Magistrate Court on a personal bail of 2,000 Jordanian dinars. He was also asked to report to the intelligence headquarters next Monday, April 29th.
April 17th. The occupation soldiers obstructed the work of a group of journalists and prevented them from covering the demolition of homes belonging to the HAMIDAT family in the town of “Bani Na’im,” east of the city of Hebron, under the pretext of their presence in a closed militarized area, while one of them was detained for about a quarter of an hour under the pretext of not wearing a journalist’s uniform.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, at approximately 1:30 am on Wednesday, a group of journalists arrived, namely (RAED AL-SHARIF and JAMIL SALHAB from Al-Ghad Al-Arabi TV, MONTASER NASSAR and AHMED AMR from Al-Jazeera TV, and journalist AHMED HAMIDAT, a photojournalist at Palestine TV), they traveled to the town of Bani Na’im, east of Hebron, to cover the demolition and bombing of two homes for the HAMIDAT family, whose owners the occupation authorities accuse of carrying out an operation inside Israel. As soon as they arrived on the roof of one of the houses overlooking the location of the occupation soldiers deployed in the area, an occupation army force surrounded the building, and the soldiers climbed onto the roof shouting at the journalists to stop filming. When the soldiers arrived on the roof of the house, they prevented the journalists from covering and informed them that the military area was closed, and they were prohibited from being in the place. They forced them to go down to the street, where the soldiers were following them, and there the soldiers detained journalist AHMED HAMIDAT, claiming that he was not wearing a press uniform, despite presenting his journalistic card. After 15 minutes, journalist HAMIDAT was released, and they asked the journalists to leave the place, forcing them to reach an area 500 meters away from the site of the event, for fear that the soldiers would attack them again.
April 17th. The Ramallah Magistrate Court issued a ruling in absentia for a period of 90 days against freelance journalist FIRAS AHMED MUTLAQ TANINA, based on a complaint that the Prime Minister’s Office had filed against him since 2018 on charges of defamation, slander, and insults directed at a higher authority.
According to the testimony of freelance journalist FIRAS TANINA to MADA researcher, on April 17th, the journalist was informed by one of the lawyers that the Ramallah Magistrate Court had issued a decision to imprison him in absentia for a period of 90 days, on charges of defamation, slander, and insult against a higher authority, which forced the journalist to intervene through the judiciary to replace the arrest with a fine of 180 Jordanian dinars.
Journalist TANINA was arrested by the Palestinian police in 2018 and transferred to the Ramallah Police Station, while he was in front of the Ma’an Agency office, where he was working as a correspondent at the time. He was transferred to the Public Prosecution in the Ramallah Magistrate Court, where he was investigated. “On charges of defamation, slander, and insult directed at a higher authority,” based on a complaint submitted by the Prime Minister of the fifteenth Palestinian government headed by RAMI HAMDALLAH at the time. After the end of the investigation, he was transferred to the city police station and was released after interventions from his relatives, where he was informed that the case had been completed.
The arrest incident came after “Ma’an” correspondent FIRAS TANINA with his cameraman went to cover a Prime Minister’s Conference. There, he was surprised to find that he was denied entry under the pretext that his name was not on the list. This angered him because there was no need for all these measures, as he was one of the journalists who were there constantly to cover. The journalist went to a café and met one of his friends. He was talking to him about what had happened. Then another person wearing civilian clothing who was present in the place intervened, claiming that the journalist TANINA was insulting Prime Minister RAMI HAMDALLAH. He asked the journalist to hand him his ID. card, but the other person refused, saying, “call the police here”; the dispute ended in the same place. But later the journalist learned that the aforementioned person was the one who reported the incident in all its details to the Prime Minister’s Office, who filed a complaint with the police against the journalist TANINA.
The journalist had not received any subpoena from the court to attend the session during which the trial was held in absentia, and he did not fail to attend court sessions, especially since the file had been completed and the ruling was issued on February 28th, 2018, and he could have been arrested at any time without him knowing the reason for it, and that what happened to him violated the laws and affected his journalistic work.
April 19th. The occupation police assaulted journalist NADINE JAAFAR by hitting her with a baton on her right shoulder while she was in the Damascus Gate area covering Friday prayers. The journalist documented the police attack on a young man by beating.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, journalist NADINE HUSSAM MOHAMMED JAAFAR (21 years old), who works with the “Al-Asimah News Network,” went to the Damascus Gate area at about 11:30 am to cover Friday prayers. While she was in Damascus Gate Square, she noticed a group of occupation soldiers moving quickly, so she followed them, knowing that “this impulsiveness means that there is a major event taking place.” It turned out that the event was an assault on a young man by beating, so the journalist documented it by filming a video. During that time, one of the soldiers asked her to step back and film from afar, so she did, and he in turn thanked her for that.
During the coverage, the journalist was keen to maintain a safe distance. However, she was surprised by a soldier holding a baton and heading towards her. She thought he was going to ask her to retreat again, but he hit her hard on the right shoulder and she fell to the ground.
People gathered around her until the ambulance arrived, as the man who called the ambulance told them that the injury was severe and might be a fracture.
At Al-Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem, NADINE underwent an x-ray that showed bruises on her right shoulder. The doctor prescribed her an ointment and pain-relieving medications, in addition to a piece of cloth to support her hand and asked her to rest for a while until it is healed.
April 24th. Media activist and writer AMNA MAHMOUD ABDEL HADI and one of her sons were martyred in the bombing of a house for the HAMEED family in the Al-Shati’ Camp area, north of Gaza, on Wednesday evening.
According to the testimony of SAED HASSOUNA, the journalist’s husband, to a MADA researcher, at approximately 11:00 am on Wednesday, medical rescue teams announced the killing of media activist and writer AMNA MAHMOUD HASSAN ABDEL HADI HAMEED and one of her sons, after her house was bombed with a missile by Israeli occupation aircraft in Al-Shati’ camp to the north of Gaza City.
Journalist AMNA works at the Al-Khansaa Women’s Center, and is a consultant for several women’s centers, in addition to being a writer. She was displaced with her husband and children to Al-Shifa Hospital in central Gaza City after the occupation forces withdrew from it, and stayed there for several days before it was besieged again by the occupation army. Her husband was arrested, and the journalist was forced to return again to the Al-Shati’ area where her house was located. Until the husband learned from his sons who were in the Baptist Hospital that they had been bombed by a warplane with a missile while they were in the alley next to the house without any warning from those forces, which resulted in the death of journalist AMNA and one of his sons, while the others were injured.
April 24th. The Al-Yassam unit arrested journalist SAIF AL-QAWASMI while he was in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and severely beat him. They transferred him to the "Al-Qashla" investigation center, where he remained for three hours on charges of incitement and destabilizing the security of settlers. He was released after being handed a banishment order from Al-Aqsa Mosque for a week.
According to the investigations of MADA’s field researcher, at around nine o’clock in the morning on Wednesday, the correspondent for the “Al-Asimah News Network” and the photographer of humanitarian stories for the “Al-Jazeera Mubasher” channel, journalist SAIF AL-QAWASMI (23 years old), was present in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, specifically in the Dome of the Rock courtyards, when a force from Al-Yassam arrested him.
Initially, the journalist was investigated in the field by 4 individuals from Al-Yassam for half an hour inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, then they took him through “Bab As-Silsilah”, one of the doors of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and there he was assaulted and beaten by a group of members of the Special Forces, and the soldier lowered his head to the ground and hit him with his elbow very hard on the neck, in addition to kicking him on his hands, back, sides and feet.
The journalist was taken to Ben Yahu police station in the same area, where he was exposed to torture by hanging for more than an hour, facing the wall with his hands raised in the sun and forbidden from moving. After that, they transferred him to another police station in the “Al-Buraq Wall” area. He did not remain there for more than ten minutes before he was transferred again in a police car to the “Al-Qashla” investigation center in the Bab Al-Khalil area, and he remained there for approximately three hours.
The charge against him was that he “destabilizes security in Al-Aqsa Mosque and poses a threat to the lives of the settlers,” in addition to other charges related to “incitement,” even though at the time of his arrest he was about 300 meters away from the path of the settlers’ storming and did not pose any danger to them. The journalist defended himself by saying that he is a journalist and holds three press cards: the Palestinian Syndicate, the Israeli Syndicate, and the International Press Card, but all of them “did not intercede for him” and did not prevent him from being beaten or arrested.
After communicating with lawyers MOAZ IRSHEED and HAMZA QATINA from the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority - Jerusalem, the incitement charge was dropped, which was planned to extend his detention beyond the period of the Jewish holidays to present it to the court, and it was sufficient to hand him a banishment order from Al-Aqsa Mosque and some of the entrances to the Old City that had been identified for a period of one week, provided that he returns for an investigation session again after a week on April 30th, 2024, and receives a new banishment order for a period of up to six months.
April 26th. The Palestinian Preventive Security Organization arrested a student at the Faculty of Mass Communication at Al-Quds Open University, IBRAHIM SABARNEH, from his home in the town of Beit Ummar in the city of Hebron at dawn on Wednesday. He was presented to the Halhul Magistrate Court and his detention was extended for three days on charges of “possession of weapons and inciting sectarian strife.”
According to the testimony of MOHAMMED SABARNEH, the journalist’s father, to a MADA researcher, at around 4:00 am on Wednesday, a force from the Palestinian Security Services (the Joint Force) stormed the town of “Beit Ummar”, north of the city of Hebron. The force surrounded the family home of IBRAHIM MOHAMMED ALI SABARNEH, a student at the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication at Al-Quds Open University. The force members raided the journalist’s house after opening the door for them and conducted searches inside it. After about 20 minutes, the force withdrew from the house, and the student was arrested after confiscating two laptops, and without presenting a note from the prosecution. After that, in the morning of the same day, he was presented before the Public Prosecution in Halhul Magistrate Court, where he was extended 24 hours on charges of possessing a weapon.
On April 29th, 2024, SABARNEH was presented before the Halhul Magistrate Court, where the prosecution asked for an extension of 15 days on charges of possessing weapons and inciting sectarian strife. The judge issued a decision to extend it for a period of 3 days, ending on Thursday, the second of May.
April 25th. Palestine Now News Agency correspondent, journalist MOHAMMED BASSAM AL-JAMAL, was martyred by an Israeli missile fired from an Israeli plane targeting his relatives’ house in the city of Rafah at dawn on Thursday.
According to the testimony of MAHMOUD AL-JAMAL, the journalist’s brother, to MADA researcher, at approximately 12:10 in the morning hours on Thursday, April 25th, an Israeli plane fired at least one missile at a residential house in the “Al-Jeneina neighborhood” area in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. As a result, the correspondent of the Palestine Now News Agency, JOURNALIST MOHAMMED BASSAM AHMED AL-JAMAL, was injured and killed, in addition to the killing of six members of his family. The missile targeted a two-story house in which journalist AL-JAMAL lived with relatives of his wife’s family, which led to the complete destruction of the house, and the residents of the house did not receive any warning message from the occupation forces asking them to evacuate the house before it was bombed.
April 25th. The occupation soldiers detained journalists AMER AL-SHALOUDI and TARIQA KHAMAYSA for about a quarter of an hour on Thursday morning in one of the abandoned shops in the Old City of Hebron to prevent them from covering the settlers’ storming of the town. One of the soldiers also deleted the photos on journalist KHAMAYSA’s camera.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, at approximately 11:00 am on Thursday morning, the two journalists, AMER MOHAMMED MISBAH AL-SHALOUDI (a freelance journalist), and Al-Awda TV photographer TARIQ KHAMAYSA, were present in the Old Municipality Square area, from the city of Hebron, to cover the storming of settler groups, accompanied by the occupation army forces in the area. Meanwhile, a number of soldiers went towards the two journalists and forced them to enter one of the abandoned shops, closed the door on them, and informed them that they were prohibited from photographing on the grounds under the pretext that it is a closed military area.
Journalist AL-SHALOUDI tried to talk to the soldiers in his capacity as a journalist and as this is his line of work, but the soldiers refused to talk to him, while one of the soldiers confiscated journalist KHAMAYSA’s cameras, turned them on and deleted all the pictures, before returning them to him. After 10 minutes, the soldiers left while the two journalists were forced to move away from the area so that they would not be detained or arrested by soldiers.
April 26th. A number of occupation police officers assaulted journalist AHMED JALAJEL, beating them with a baton, pushing them, and obstructing work on Friday afternoon while he was covering their suppression of a number of young men and preventing them from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque.
According to the investigations of MADA field researcher, photojournalist AHMED OTHMAN AHMED JALAJEL (45 years old) was at around 12:30 noon on Friday performing his journalistic work in the Bab al-Asbat area, and while he was filming the occupation forces’ suppression of a number of young men after preventing them from entering the mosque to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque. Five police officers obstructed his work, prevented him from filming, and hit him on his left foot and chest with a baton, causing bruises in the affected area.
The soldiers pushed him and prevented him from continuing his work, and when he showed them his press card, they did not care about it and did not even look at it. He then went to Al-Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem, where his injury was described as minor, while his equipment did not sustain any material damage.
April 29th. Journalist SALEM ABU TAYUR was martyred in the targeting of his home in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
