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Israeli forces and illegal settlers committed 57 violations and assaults against journalists in the occupied West Bank and Gaza in November, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) said Saturday.
The syndicate said the violations reflect a “continued systematic escalation aimed at preventing media crews from carrying out their professional duties.”
A monthly report by the organization’s Committee on Press Freedoms said the incidents comprised “dangerous patterns directly targeting journalistic work and endangering journalists' lives.”
According to the report, two journalists in Tulkarem and Gaza were injured by live ammunition and plastic bullets while reporting in the field.
Illegal Israeli settlers played a central role in several severe assaults across the West Bank, the PJS said. Settlers carried out 22 attacks against journalists, including preventing coverage, chasing reporters, beating them with sticks, throwing stones, and brandishing weapons.
The report documented 16 cases of detention and obstruction of journalistic work, six cases of direct physical assault, four cases of equipment confiscation and forced deletion of materials, and two cases in which weapons were pointed directly at journalists.
Two incidents of vehicle destruction and confiscation were recorded, along with one journalist’s arrest, a home raid, and a journalist being brought before a court.
Mohammed al-Lahham, head of the Press Freedoms Committee at the PJS, said the figures “reflect a clear policy aimed at silencing Palestinian journalists.”
He called for increased international pressure on Israel to halt daily attacks and to provide international protection for Palestinian journalists.
Since October 2023, Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 171,000 others in Gaza during a two-year war that came to a halt under a ceasefire deal on Oct. 10.
At least 1,088 Palestinians have also been killed and 10,700 injured in attacks by the army and illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied territory since October 2023. More than 20,500 people have been arrested during the same period.
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