Israeli Occupation Still Keeps 53 Palestinian Journalists in Detention, Says Palestinian Institutions

The Israeli occupation forces still keep nearly 53 male and female journalists in detentions and camps among them 43 journalists who have been arrested after October 7, including 70 male and female journalists after October, specifically in the occupied Jerusalem, coupled with threats, field assaults and constant pursuit of them during their field press coverage, the Commission for Detainee's Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, and the Addameer Foundation for Prisoner Care and Human Rights reported in a joint statement to mark the World Press Freedom Day. Additionally, four journalists from the Gaza enclave have been forcibly disappeared, with the Israeli occupation soldiers refusing to account for their fate or give any information about them, among them two journalists who have been arrested at the beginning of the aggression, along with two others who have been arrested from Al Shifa Hospital following a large-scale offensive, the statement added. The Israeli occupation conducted unspeakable crime s against the Palestinian journalists amid the ongoing genocidal war in the enclave and large-scale assault on the Palestinians. This period represents one of the most brutal and bloody ordeals facing the journalists compared to previous periods that witnessed popular uprisings and martyrdom of 135 Palestinians, the statement read. The statement pointed out that targeting the Palestinian journalists was and remains the most prominent policies pursued by the Israeli occupation in history, except the assassinations that have unprecedently increased. Also, since the beginning of the genocidal war, their targeting constituted a turning point in the history of Palestinian journalism, especially in Gaza. It emphasized that the Israeli occupation forces not only targeted them, but systematically targeted their families with many of them being martyred during the genocidal war in vengeance campaigns and turning their families into targets and tools to frighten them in a persistent attempt to muffle their voices and cover up the reality of genocide in Gaza. Source: Qatar News Agency