Gathering of officials at Palestine TV headquarters in Ramallah against vandalism of the TV offices in Gaza. (WAFA Images . Huthayfa Srour) 

RAMALLAH, Saturday, January 05, 2019 (WAFA) – Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said on Saturday at a protest gathering in Ramallah against vandalism of Palestine TV and Radio headquarters in Gaza that the government intends to compensate Palestine TV for the damages caused to its offices and equipment by vandals who broke into its offices on Friday.

Hamdallah was speaking at a rally at the Ramallah headquarters of Palestine TV and Radio called for by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and the Ministry of Information to denounce the vandalism of the Gaza TV headquarters and the destruction of its cameras, monitors and other equipment.

Deputy director of Voice of Palestine in Gaza, Ola Kassab, estimated the damage at $100,000.

The Prime Minister and other speakers at the gathering held Hamas, as the de facto authority in Gaza since its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in July 2007, responsible for the assault and demanded that it arrests and prosecute those who were behind it.

The speakers, who included deputy chairman of Fatah movement, Mahmoud Aloul, and the General Supervisor of the Official Media, Ahmad Assaf, strongly denounced the attack and openly accused Hamas of condoning it.

Assaf said that even though the government has expressed readiness to compensate the TV for the damaged equipment, getting Israel to agree to allow this equipment into Gaza is going to be a very difficult task.

Israel has been imposing a strict blockade on Gaza since 2006 and does not allow many kinds of products and electronics into the Gaza Strip.

He said the destroyed cameras were used to expose Israeli acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza and therefore by destroyed them the vandals were doing a great service for Israel by shutting off the cameras.

M.K.