Palestinian journalists on Tuesday condemned Hamas for arresting some of their
colleagues in the Gaza Strip and called for their immediate
release.
Hamas did not say why the journalists had been
arrested.
Most of the journalists who were arrested are affiliated with
Fatah.
Hamas security officers raided the homes of the journalists early
Tuesday and took them into custody. A number of other reporters were arrested
after being summoned for interrogation by Hamas security
authorities.
Among those arrested is Juma’a Abu Shomar, who works for the
Voice of Freedom radio station. Hamas security officers raided his home and
detained his father and uncles, demanding that Abu Shomar hand himself
in.
Hamas also arrested on Tuesday Muneer al-Munairawi, the
administrative director of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in the Gaza
Strip, as well as journalists Ashraf Abu Khsaiwan and Mustafa
Migdad.
Earlier, Hamas security forces also arrested reporters Abdel
Karim Hijji and Hussein Abdul Jawwad after summoning them for
interrogation.
The PLO’s Information and Culture Department condemned the
crackdown on the journalists in the Gaza Strip and called on Hamas to release
them immediately. The department described the arrests as a serious assault on
freedom of speech and human rights.
“We condemn the assault on public
freedoms, which harms the basic human rights of Palestinians,” it said in a
statement.
“The arrests also harm the image of our people, our
institutions and our democratic state.”
The Palestinian Journalists
Syndicate in the West Bank also denounced the crackdown, saying it coincided
with Hamas’s efforts to intimidate journalists.
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