West Bank: Palestinian photojournalist wounded during clashes

A wounded Palestinian reporter is carried by a medic and civilians in the northern occupied West Bank on May 18, 2017 near the Hawara military checkpoint. © JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP PHOTO

Majdi Shtayeh, a Palestinian photojournalist for Associated Press (AP) and a member of the IFJ affiliated Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) was today wounded from gun shots at a protest in the West Bank. Media reports said that the incident happened when a protest by demonstrators supporting Palestinian prisoners who have gone on hunger strike in Israeli jails since 17 April turned violent and hundreds of protesters clashed with Israeli Occupation Forces near Hiwarah town, south to Nablus. During the clashes which took place near a military checkpoint, shots were fired by Israeli soldiers and an Israeli settler who attempted to drive through a crowd of Palestinian protesters, media added. The PJS said that Shtayeh was admitted to Rafedia Hospital in Nablus with moderate gun wounds and that he is in stable condition. According to medical sources, a 23-year old demonstrator was killed in the incident. The PJS condemned the ¨aggressive attack¨, saying that the photojournalist was shot by the Israeli settler who opened fire by handgun on him and the demonstrator. The IFJ backed its affiliate and joined it in condemning the attack. “We condemn in the strongest terms the attack against our colleague Majdi Shtayeh and we urge the Israeli authorities to immediately launch an investigation into both the attack of the photojournalist and the killing of the Palestinian civilian so that those responsible can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said the IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger. “Unfortunately this is not the first time we witness the disproportionate use of force by Israeli military authorities against the members of our affiliate, which should definitely stop.”

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