Ramallah /PNN / 

The month of July 2023 has witnessed a huge increase in the number of violations against media freedoms across Palestine compared to the previous month, June, as the number of violations documented by the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms “MADA” doubled and amounted to 80 violations, compared to a total 36 violations during April.

It was not a single party that was responsible for the increase in the number of violations during the past month. Rather, the increase came as a result of the rise in the number of violations committed by all parties, and this increase comes in light of the activities and events witnessed by some Palestinian cities. As a result, journalists and media outlets were subjected to Israeli and Palestinian attacks while covering peaceful Palestinian activities, the scope of which expanded relatively this month compared to the preceding month.

The frequency of the occupation attacks against journalists increased in most Palestinian cities, during the aggression in Jenin city and camp, in addition to an increase in the number of injuries among journalists in Gaza Strip while covering solidarity demonstrations with the cities of the West Bank.

In addition to the above, the attacks committed against journalists in Gaza Strip during the coverage of peaceful events organized in various parts of the Strip demanding an improvement in the living conditions of citizens.

The violations that took place in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip during the month of July were distributed among (45) attacks committed by Israeli authorities, (18) attacks committed by Palestinian authorities, and (17) violations committed by social media sites.

Israeli Violations:

The number of Israeli violations against media freedoms increased during the month of February by 29% compared to the previous month and increased from 35 attacks committed during the month of June to reach 45 attacks during the month of July. Most of which were serious attacks on the lives of journalists and media freedoms in Palestine as the physical assaults accounted for the largest percentage of (19), and included the injury of three journalists with rubber-coated metal bullets, and three injuries of suffocation with gas bombs, except for those who were assaulted by pushing and beating,  including nine journalists in the city of Jerusalem. The occupation forces targeted a media crew and two journalists with gas bombs to disperse them and ban them from covering the borders of Gaza Strip, and three media crews and four journalists were detained to ban them from covering the events. In addition, five cases of threats against journalists were documented, the equipment of two journalists was destroyed, a journalist was banned from traveling, and a journalist was summoned, questioned, and threatened with arrest if he does not quit practicing journalism. Furthermore, five journalists were banned from covering events in different cities, and the occupation soldiers deleted a journalist’s media material.

Social Media Violations:

The number of social media violations increased during the month of July and accounted for 21% of all violations, as Mada documented a total of 17 violations committed by the Application “WhatsApp”, part of “Meta” Company, compared to zero violations documented during the month of June.

In July, WhatsApp deleted 17 accounts of journalists in Gaza Strip who were members of Islamic Jihad-affiliated groups from the platform.

Palestinian Violations:

The percentage of violations committed by Palestinian authorities accounted for 23% of the total violations documented during the month of July, as they increased to 18 violations compared to one violation documented during the previous month, June.

The violations are broken down as 12 in the West Bank and 6 in Gaza Strip, including the arrest of 3 journalists, one of whom was tortured and ill-treated, the physical assault on one journalist during field coverage in Gaza Strip as he was banned from covering the activity of “We Want to Live” Movement, the detention of Masdar Network crew in Gaza Strip and the seizure of their equipment, and the summons of two journalists in the West Bank, one of whom was summoned three times without being questioned.

It also documented the case of summoning and questioning a journalist in the West Bank, threatening a journalist in Gaza Strip and banning two journalists from covering the activities of “We Want to Live” Movement, incitement by official authorities in the West Bank against the “Quds” News Network, in addition to the Palestinian intelligence in Bethlehem intercepting the car of two journalists and seizing their cell phones.