Palestinian Journalists Bloc in Gaza:

▪We strongly condemn the arrest by Israeli occupation forces, at dawn on Thursday, of journalist Alaa Al-Rimawi after raiding his home in Ramallah city in the central occupied West Bank.

▪Journalist Alaa Al-Rimawi had been released from occupation prisons several meses ago, after which he returned to practicing his journalistic and humanitarian work within the framework of his natural and guaranteed right to practice his profession and convey events and facts to the public.

▪The escalation of violations against the Palestinian press corps and what this represents as a direct infringement on press freedom and journalists’ right to carry out their professional mission.

▪The arrest of journalists because of their work constitutes a violation of press freedom and the public’s right to know, and increases the risks faced by Palestinian journalists while performing their professional duty.

▪We call on press, human rights, and international institutions to assume their responsibilities in protecting Palestinian journalists and working to stop their pursuit and arrest.

▪We طالب for the immediate release of journalist Alaa Al-Rimawi and all detained male and female journalists in the occupation’s prisons.

▪More than 20 male and female journalists are still held in the occupation’s prisons, amid difficult humanitarian and living conditions, which requires urgent action by international institutions concerned with press freedom and human rights.

▪Protecting journalists and freedom of journalistic work are not a privilege but a basic right that must be respected and guaranteed, and the continued detention of journalists will not hide the truth nor prevent the Palestinian press from continuing to carry out its mission.