Israeli occupation forces arrested journalist Mohammad Awad after raiding his home in Beitunia, west of Ramallah. Courtesy of X/@EyeonPalestine
The syndicate said Awad's arrest came amid escalating targeting of journalists by Israeli forces and settlers through killings, arrests, detentions, restrictions and obstruction of media coverage.
It described the detention as a continued attempt to “silence the press, obstruct the transmission of truth, and prevent the exposure of the crimes and violations committed against the Palestinian people.”
Awad, 38, who has shot video for AFP in the occupied Palestinian territory, was detained at his home near Ramallah at around 6:00 am on Wednesday, his wife Iman Shalash and witnesses said.
Shalash said Israeli soldiers “blindfolded him, handcuffed him and took him” to a military vehicle.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Society said Awad's detention brought to around 40 the number of Palestinian journalists held in Israeli prisons.
Earlier this week, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate reported 108 attacks and other violations against journalists and media workers by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank during July.
The syndicate said 58 cases involved brief detentions and restrictions on reporting. It also recorded 11 settler attacks, 12 cases in which journalists were targeted with stun grenades or tear gas, and six beatings.
Four journalists suffered bleeding injuries while covering developments in Gaza, including from shrapnel, while two were detained and four interrogated over their professional work.
The syndicate also recorded four raids on journalists' homes or media institutions, three cases involving the seizure or destruction of equipment, and two cases in which footage was deleted.
It called for accountability and for journalists to be allowed to work “free from threats, attacks and pursuit.”
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