A delegation from the Ministry of Information headed by government spokesman Yousef al-Mahmoud on a solidarity visit to WAFA office in Ramallah after an Israeli army raid of the official news agency‘s building. (WAFA Images / Baha Nasr)

RAMALLAH, Tuesday, December 11, 2018 (WAFA) – Staff from the Ministry of Information and government spokesman Yousef al-Mahmoud Tuesday paid a solidarity visit to the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, in Ramallah a day after Israeli forces raided the agency’s headquarters.

Al-Mahmoud condemned the military raid as a deliberate act intended to cover up Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.

He stressed that the Palestinian leadership would not allow the perpetrators to go unpunished and the military raid would not deter journalists from carrying out their duties in terms of reporting on Israeli crimes.

Israeli forces raided Monday afternoon the offices of WAFA and searched the premises, including checking the ID cards of the staff who were in the office at the time. They also inspected the computer servers and the building’s security cameras recordings.

Mobile phone video footage posted on the agency‘s website showed five soldiers inside WAFA newsroom, instructing employees to open one of the rooms in the office as another person is heard saying "the cameras are in there."

Soldiers also requested businesses elsewhere in Ramallah and al-Bireh cities to hand over security camera footages.

The raid took place as Israeli military continued a manhunt for a Palestinian suspected of injuring several settlers in a drive-by shooting near Ramallah on Sunday night.

K.F./M.K.