DOZENS of Palestinian journalists have suffered excessive tear gas inhalation after Israeli military forces attacked a peaceful sit-in staged in the northern sector of the occupied West Bank in solidarity with injured journalist Muaadh Amarneh.
Local people, said that yesterday Israeli soldiers fired a barrage of tear gas canisters and stun grenades at journalists gathered at the northern entrance of Bethlehem, located 10 kilometres (6 miles) south of Jerusalem al-Quds.
The journalists held the rally to express their strong support for Amarneh, who lost one of his eyes after an Israeli soldier opened fire at him as he was covering clashes between local youths and Israeli forces in the city of Surif, located 25 kilometres northwest of al-Khalil (Hebron), last Friday.
Israel also arrested two journalists, Hamad Taqateqa and Ahmed Tannouh, who had participated in yesterday’s rally.
According to a report released by the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS), Israeli forces committed 600 rights violations against Palestinian journalists between October 2018 and October 2019 in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem al-Quds and the Gaza Strip.
The report added that Israeli forces shot 60 journalists, who suffered serious wounds. Some 43 journalists were also hit by sound grenades directly thrown at them by Israeli forces.
‘More than 170 journalists were beaten, detained or banned from coverage,’ the report revealed, further noting that ten were detained during this period, raising the number of journalists inside Israeli jails to 18.
Separately, Israeli forces shot dead a young Palestinian man in the early hours of Sunday during an alleged car chase southwest of Jerusalem al-Quds.
Israeli media outlets, citing Israeli police, justified the use of deadly force against the young man by claiming that he was on the run after stealing a car.
The 25-year-old suffered critical injuries while attempting to escape towards Bethlehem, according to Israeli police allegations.
