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Qatar Press Center Condemns Escalating Attacks Against Journalists in the West Bank

The Qatar Press Center condemns, in the strongest terms, the escalating Israeli attacks against journalists in the occupied West Bank, and the assaults and restrictions they face that prevent them from carrying out their professional duty and conveying field developments to the public.

The Center affirms that targeting journalists represents a violation of press freedom and the society’s right to know and access information.

The Center noted documentation by media outlets and news websites of an NBC News team being attacked and beaten by Israeli settlers armed with clubs in the West Bank. The village of Galud, south of Nablus, witnessed an attack carried out by dozens of settlers, targeting the home of the Tubasi family, which had been evacuated months ago after family members were subjected to harassment by settlers.

The attack affected family members and a number of Palestinian and foreign journalists who were accompanying them, resulting in a number of journalists suffering injuries ranging from minor to moderate, and members of the Tubasi family were transferred to the hospital.

In another incident, Israeli occupation soldiers assaulted foreign journalists while they were covering settler incursions into the Old City of Hebron, preventing them from performing their journalistic work, concurrently with preventing citizens from returning to their homes and shops.

The Center points to the warning issued by "Reporters Without Borders" regarding the escalating attacks and restrictions imposed on journalists while covering events in the occupied West Bank. According to a report published by the organization on August 20, 2026, the previous three months witnessed incidents that included the use of tear gas and stun grenades, preventing journalists from accessing areas witnessing military operations, detaining and investigating them regarding their work, along with shooting incidents and other assaults.

The Center affirms that these violations coincide with the escalation of occupation measures and settler attacks in the occupied West Bank, along with steps to expand settlements and outposts, and seize more Palestinian land and water sources.

The attacks on journalists are accompanied by a wide series of violations in the governorates of Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarm, and the Jordan Valley, which included assault by beating and gunfire, burning homes, factories, and olive trees, uprooting trees, stealing livestock, establishing new outposts, bulldozing land, and cutting electricity poles and water lines.

The Qatar Press Center holds the occupation authorities responsible for the violations to which journalists are subjected in the occupied Palestinian territories, calling on the international community and organizations concerned with press freedom and human rights to condemn these practices, work to stop them, and hold those responsible accountable before the competent international judicial authorities.

The Center demands urgent and effective international action to ensure the protection of journalists and media professionals in Gaza and the West Bank, enable them to perform their professional duty in a safe environment, and safeguard the right of the media to access and transmit information without being killed, arrested, intimidated, or restricted.

It renews its call to the United Nations, the International Federation of Journalists, and international human rights and media organizations to take urgent action to provide protection for journalists in the occupied Palestinian territories, work to release detainees, hold those responsible for violations accountable, and ensure non-impunity.

The Center calls for independent and transparent international investigations into the crimes and violations committed against journalists in occupied Palestine, including the crimes of killing journalists in the Gaza Strip, to ensure justice is achieved and the principles of accountability are applied in accordance with international law.

The Qatar Press Center stresses that protecting journalists is an international responsibility, and that attacking them due to the exercise of their professional work represents an assault on the society's right to know and access information, and an attempt to silence the voice of truth.