Israel committed 148 violations against Palestinian journalists in May: report

Israeli forces have committed more than a hundred violations against Palestinian journalists during the month of May, according to a report published by a Beirut-based press freedom NGO on Wednesday.

The Journalists Support Committee said the month saw at least 148 violations carried out by Israeli forces, the most seen in a month since 2022 began.

The violations were "an attempt to prevent Palestinian journalists from documenting Israeli assaults against Palestinians and their holy sites", the committee said.

Israeli forces brandished their weapons, threw bottles and stones, used pepper spray, and hurled insults at Palestinians as they worked, the report said. They also stole camera gear and mobile phones, destroyed equipment, and even rammed vehicles, it added.

The NGO said 11 journalists were detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank during May, while the custody of five others was extended without trial.

Israeli settlers also attacked media workers on duty, injuring 54 journalists last month according to the report. They also provocatively disrupted Palestinian broadcasts by waving Israeli flags, singing, and dancing to Israeli nationalist songs.

Both Israeli forces and settlers obstructed at least 61 journalists and media organisations from covering Israeli violence against Palestinians, notably in occupied Jerusalem, Jenin and Hebron.

The report comes a few weeks after Israeli forces shot and killed veteran Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, as she covered a raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank for Al Jazeera.

The Palestinian media icon’s killing on 11 May sent shockwaves across the globe, with UN human rights experts saying the incident could constitute "a war crime".

On Wednesday, Israeli forces killed Palestinian journalist Ghufran Warasneh while she worked at the Al-Arroub refugee camp north of Hebron.