Ramallah / PNN /
A report issued by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate sheds light on the Israeli occupation army's relentless targeting of journalists with the intent to kill.
According to a press statement released by the Freedom Committee affiliated with the Syndicate, it is striking for observers of the Israeli occupation's crimes against Palestinian journalists that the number of martyrs exceeds that of the wounded. This is evident in the monitoring and documentation tables of the Syndicate's Freedom Committee last year, as well as the continuation of the policy and methodology of the occupation army, which is evident in the first quarter of 2024, where 31 journalists were martyred, while 30 were wounded by shrapnel from missiles, artillery shells, and bullets during the same period.
Mohammed Al-Lahham, the head of the Freedom Committee at the Syndicate, commented on the report of the first quarter of this year by stating that it is natural in all wars and conflicts for the number of wounded to far exceed the number of fatalities. However, what is happening in Palestine is abnormal because it indicates a decision at the highest political level within the Israeli occupation system to target Palestinian journalists for assassination in an attempt to kill the truth. Every journalist injured was meant to be a martyr, and not everyone martyred was intended to be injured.
Al-Lahham added that for this reason, foreign journalists were banned from entering the Gaza Strip by a decision of the so-called Supreme Court, as the occupation would find it difficult to kill foreign journalists and thus could continue to exclusively target Palestinian journalists in front of the silent world regarding the crimes and genocide they are witnessing. This is in addition to the ongoing attempts to undermine and cast doubt on the professionalism of Palestinian journalists in Gaza.
According to the Syndicate's report, last year, 2023, witnessed the injury of 23 journalists by missile shrapnel, most of them in the Gaza Strip, while 48 were injured by bullets, most of them in the West Bank. Meanwhile, 102 journalists were killed in the Gaza Strip, meaning that the number of journalist martyrs was twice the number of injured journalists.
The first quarter of this year also saw a noticeable increase in arrests, with 15 journalists arrested and four cases of enforced disappearance remaining unresolved so far.
Incidents of violation of crews' detention and prevention from work saw a very significant increase of 82 cases, most of them in the West Bank, alongside the phenomenon of confiscation and destruction of equipment, with 35 cases.
Last March was the most recorded month for crimes, assaults, and violations by the occupation in the first quarter, with a total of 106 incidents.
Geographically, most of the assault cases occurred in the city of Gaza, followed by the city of Jerusalem
