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Israel violations of Palestine media rights hit record level in 2015: MADA

Saturday, 19 March 2016 7:01 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 19 March 2016 7:04 AM ]

An employee of Palestine Today television inspects the damage at the station’s offices after it had been raided by Israeli forces overnight on March 11, 2016, in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. ©AFP

A media rights organization has revealed that Israeli violations of Palestinian media freedoms hit a record high in 2015, calling for international pressure on the regime to end such breaches.

In its annual report released on Friday, the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) said it monitored a total of 599 violations against media freedoms in 2015.

During a press conference to announce the release, MADA Director General Moussa Rimawi said Israeli violations against Palestinian media reached a new peak last year in comparison with the group’s reports over the decade.

Rimawi added that cases of media violations in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip had increased by 29 percent since 2014, adding, however, that the most aggressive and brutal abuses were recorded in 2014.

The report said the Israeli military committed most of the harshest violations, nearly 70 percent of the total, with 112 cases recorded for the month of October alone.

A Palestinian man carries a placard during a demonstration demanding the release of journalist Mohammed al-Qiq (portrait) from Israeli jails, next to the settlement of Beit El, north of Ramallah, occupied West Bank, on January 22, 2016. ©AFP

The MADA report highlighted the brutal killings of a Palestinian media student named Ahmed Jehajehah, who was shot by Israeli forces in Qalandiya refugee camp, and Palestinian television cameraman Kamal Abu Nahel by gunmen.

Palestine Today TV and TransMedia offices were shut down earlier this month upon a March 8 order by Tel Aviv’s authorities. Israeli forces damaged the offices of the outlets and confiscated their equipment.

Israeli forces shut also down three local radio stations in the West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron) last October and November and confiscated their broadcast equipment. Several other Palestinian outlets have also been threatened over accusations that they incite violence against Israeli forces.

The occupied Palestinian lands have been the scene of tensions after Israel’s imposition in August 2015 of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

More than 200 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.

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