RAMALLAH
The year 2014 has been the worst year for Palestinian press and journalists, a Palestinian NGO has said.
"The Israeli occupation has committed 351 violations – some amounting to crimes - against journalists in 2014," Ghazi Hanania, director of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms, told reporters on Sunday.
"The year 2014 has been the worst, bloodiest year for Palestinian journalists," he added.
Hanania said that 17 journalists or other media personnel were killed during Israel's war on the Gaza Strip last summer.
He also said that Palestinian security agencies have committed 141 violations against journalists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the past year, 90 of which had been in the West Bank.
Israeli violations against pressmen in Palestine increased by 132 percent during 2014 compared to the year before, according to the NGO.
Violations by Palestinian security agencies against journalists have also increased by 46 percent during the past year.
Israeli and Palestinian officials were not immediately available for comment on the report.
In July and August of 2014, more than 2,160 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were killed – mostly civilians - and some 11,000 injured during a 51-day Israeli military onslaught
The offensive finally ended on Aug. 26 with a cease-fire signed in Cairo between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions.
