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Israeli forces attack Palestinian journalists near Nablus

Israeli forces attack Palestinian journalists near Nablus
“This is the fourth aggression on us by Israeli forces or settlers in less than a month," pointed out Abdel Haq. "We were attacked at Deir Al-Hatab, west of Nablus, in early October, where I personally survived Israeli soldiers’ bullets by miracle."
3 min read
West Bank
19 October, 2022
Israeli forces have been closing the entrance to Deir Sharaf with dirt mounts for eight days. [Getty]

Israeli forces injured five  on Monday in an attack on a television crew in the village of Deir Sharaf, west of Nablus.

One journalist, Mutaz Sudani, was hit in the face by a rifle-shot tear gas canister while the rest were treated for asphyxiation with tear gas, following the shooting of a talk show episode at the entrance of the village.

Israeli forces had closed the entrance to Deir Sharaf with dirt mounds last week, following north of Nablus.

"Deir Sharaf is located on the road leading to Nablus from the west", Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian civil activist against Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank told °®Âþµº.

"As part of , Deir Sharaf was sealed off, closing both the village and the access to Nablus," said Daghlas. "It has been a week that people can’t leave freely and that Palestinians can’t enter Nablus from the west."

The television crew was shooting an episode of a popular program Today's Portfolio.

"We arrived at the village's entrance and the producer spoke to the at the location, who indicated to us where we were allowed to place the set and the cameras," Baker Abdel Haq, a member of the crew, told °®Âþµº.

"There were cameramen, sound technicians, the producer, the presenter and guests, and the program went on smoothly while Israeli soldiers watched from a nearby distance," said Abdel Haq. "As soon as the shooting ended, Israeli soldiers , and there was no one else in the place", he said. "Our cameraman Mutaz Sudani was directly hit in the face by a tear gas canister while four others began to choke, and part of our gear was damaged too".

"We immediately began to gather our material and leave without exchanging words with the soldiers," he added.

"This is the fourth aggression on us by Israeli forces or settlers in less than a month," pointed out Abdel Haq.

"We were attacked at , in early October, where I personally survived Israeli soldiers' bullets by a miracle," he recalled.

"In mid-October , Israeli settlers attacked us with stones, then about a week ago in Deir Sharaf, Israeli soldiers attacked us, and lastly on Monday in Deir Sharaf again," he added.

Israeli forces committed 479 aggressions against Palestinian journalists in the first half of 2022 alone, .

These include physical aggressions, banning from coverage, confiscation of material and the killing in May of , and in June of on her first day of work.

In September, Israeli forces arrested in Jerusalem for ten days, before releasing her on condition of not leaving her house and not using social media.

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