Palestine – Two Palestinian institutions reported yesterday that the Israeli army has arrested 61 journalists from the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 7, and 21 of them were released.
This was reported in a joint statement by the Commission for the Affairs of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners (official) and the Palestinian Prisoners Club (non-governmental).
According to the statement, “The occupation authorities continue to escalate the arrests of journalists, as after October 7, 61 journalists were arrested, including 40 journalists who are still in detention, the last of whom was journalist Rula Hassanein (she was arrested on Monday from her home in Bethlehem).”
The two institutions explained that among those detained were 3 female journalists, and 23 journalists were administratively detained (without charge).
The statement also indicated that the Israeli authorities deported journalist Seqal Qadoum to the Gaza Strip after her arrest.
Since the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, the army has escalated raids and arrests in the West Bank, targeting 7,670 Palestinians, killing 435 and wounding 4,700, according to official Palestinian data.
Israel is waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip that has left tens of thousands of victims, most of them children and women, a humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure and property, which led to Israel being brought before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing “genocide.”
