148 Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists in May: NGO

GAZA CITY, Palestine

An Arab NGO has documented 148 Israeli rights violations against Palestinian journalists in the occupied Palestinian territories last month.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Journalists Support Committee said the month of May witnessed a surge in attacks on Palestinian journalists by Israeli forces and settlers.

It termed the attacks as “an attempt to prevent Palestinian journalists from covering Israeli assaults against Palestinians and their holy sites.”

According to the NGO, the Israeli violations varied from arrests, intimidation, shooting, verbal and physical assaults to car-ramming incidents.

It said 11 journalists were detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank during May, while the custody of five others were extended without trial.

"Israeli forces, in collaboration with settlers, disrupted the work of 61 journalists and media institutions while covering Israeli violations in the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron and Jenin,” it added.

The NGO also noted that the social media accounts of 11 Palestinian journalists were suspended for alleged violations of publication rules.

Last month, Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, was shot dead while covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Palestinian officials and her employer, Al Jazeera, said she was killed by Israeli forces.

There was no comment from Israeli authorities on the NGO’s report.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar