Palestinian Territories: The injury of two Palestinian journalists by Israeli bullets is a continuation of systematic suppression of journalistic work

Stockholm - Skyline condemns the continued persecution of journalists by the Israel Defense Forces in their coverage of events in the West Bank and stresses that these practices are in unacceptable violation of the legal provisions that provide special protection for the press.

In a statement released today, Thursday, Skyline says that journalist "Nasser Shtayyeh," an Associated Press photographer, was wounded by a gunshot to the left thigh. Journalist Hassan Qamhieh was also wounded by a bullet fired by the army in his right leg. Israeli forces fired this morning, Thursday, January 12, while covering the storming of the Old City of Nablus in the northern West Bank. In addition, 8 Palestinian civilians were wounded by the Israeli army's massive shelling.

Skyline points out that these targeted attacks coincide with the escalation of Israeli army attacks on Palestinian journalists, which have increased significantly since last year.

In addition, Skyline indicates that the violations documented by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in 2022 include the 90 crimes and violations committed by Israeli authorities that caused serious harm, such as the murder of journalist Sherine Abu Aqleh, a correspondent for Al-Jazeera, and the murder of journalist Ghufran Warasneh, who works for a local radio station.

In its statement, the Journalists Syndicate confirmed that "52 Israeli army bullets, including live bullets, metal bullets, rubber bullets and plastic bullets, hit the bodies of journalists on the ground and three journalists were injured by shell fragments from rockets in the Gaza Strip."

The Syndicate warned that the most damaging form is "imprisoning crews and preventing them from working, which amounted to 316 cases. The number of those who suffered direct injuries from tear gas canisters, stun grenades and sewage amounted to 95 journalists who were injured in the body and 68 cases who suffocated due to inhalation of toxic tear gas.

The Journalists' Syndicate also documented that 117 journalists were physically attacked by Israeli forces, whether with sticks, shields, rifle butts, fists, or kicks. It also documented 40 cases of journalists' arrest, of which about 17 remained in Israeli prisons, and 58 journalists were tried by unfair military courts, which sentenced some of them to prison terms and unjust fines.

Skyline confirms that this shocking number of violations is the result of the inaction of the international community, including international institutions concerned with the freedom of journalistic work, which encourages Israel to continue committing violations against journalistic work in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Accordingly, Skyline emphasizes that the international community's negative role toward the Israeli authorities' practices against the right to freedom of opinion, expression, and journalistic work-particularly the attacks on journalists-provides implicit cover for Israel's continued violations.

At the end of its statement, the human rights foundation Skyline calls on Israeli authorities to stop their constant attacks on Palestinian journalists and to respect the work of press teams as they report and cover events in the Palestinian territories.