PARIS, May 3, 2010 (WAFA)- The Israeli army was again responsible for abuses of authority and acts of violence against journalists in the Palestinian Territory in 2009, Reporters Without Border (RSF) said Monday on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, 3 May.

The Israeli authorities denied the international media access to the Gaza Strip “for safety reasons” during Operation Cast Lead, the military offensive that ran from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009. This was a serious press freedom violation. The Israeli forces targeted several buildings housing news media during the offensive. In all, six journalists were killed during Operation Cast Lead, two of them while working and around 15 others were wounded.

Two Palestinian journalists based in Jerusalem, Khodr Shaheen, the correspondent of the Iranian Arabic-language TV station Al-Alam, and his assistant, Mohammed Sarhan, were charged during Operation Cast Lead with “divulging secret information” and “transmitting information to the enemy in wartime.” Their two-month jail sentences and additional suspended sentences of six months in prison were eventually quashed by the Israeli supreme court. The Israeli security forces tend to behave arbitrarily towards Palestinian journalists and media workers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At least 33 Palestinian journalists were physically attacked and injured by Israeli soldiers during 2009 and another 25 have been since the start of 2010. Israeli soldiers implicated in these abuses are rarely prosecuted.