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On Wednesday, Israeli forces raided the headquarters of a Palestinian publishing house in the occupied city of Ramallah in West Bank. They also warned the publishing house not to publish newspapers close to Hamas. Palestinian officials have criticized to move, and said that it violates their freedom of expression. Israeli authorities were not immediately available for comment.
The headquarters of the al-Ayyam newspaper in Ramallah had started publishing three pro-Hamas newspapers earlier in the month after Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas were able to resolve their differences. The agreement between the two brought to an end a political rift that had lasted seven years. It also ended a mutual ban on media outlets friendly to the other in their respective strongholds in occupied West Bank and in Gaza.
In its statement, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate condemned the raid on al-Ayyam’s printing press in the early hours of Wednesday, saying, “Israeli authorities informed the newspaper that it would not allow the printing and distribution of newspapers that allegedly incite against Israel, referring to the three newspapers – Falastin, al-Resala and al-Istiqlal.”
Palestinian diplomat Hanan Ashrawi said that “the raid into the borders of the Palestinian state and the violation of its sovereignty and its media institutions is a flagrant attack on Palestinians’ basic human rights and a violation of norms along with international and humanitarian laws that ensure freedom of opinion and expression”.
Israel objects to the unity deal between Hamas and Fatah. It considers Hamas as a terrorist organization since the Hamas has refused to recognize Israel, and has not relinquished its arms. Palestinians hope to appease Hamas’ militant position with the Fatah leaders’ patience to negotiate a deal with Israel so that they can achieve statehood in West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, all territories Israel captured during the Arab-Israeli six day war in 1967.
