Targeting of Journalists During “Operation Summer Camps”

During “Operation Summer Camps,” journalists were targeted multiple times by Israeli forces, raising serious concerns about the safety of media professionals in conflict zones.

Several assaults reported on September 3:

• Israel has been conducting a large-scale military operation across the occupied West Bank for the sixth consecutive day, resulting in the deaths of at least 30 Palestinians.

• As part of this operation, Israeli occupation forces invaded Kafr Dan village, west of Jenin, where they cordoned off and demolished a house. During the raid, they killed a 16-year-old Palestinian girl and fired live ammunition at journalists, injuring a reporter and a photojournalist.

• Wafa photographer Ayman Al-Nubani told The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate that Israeli forces “directly targeted” seven journalists with live fire, journalists who were riding in three press vehicles and wearing press protection vests. The photographer said he and his colleagues – Wafa photographer Mohammed Mansour, Raneen Sawafta with the Reuters news agency and freelance journalist Yazan Hamayel – were injured during the incident. Another reported name of injured journalist during the raid is Mujahid Al-Saadi.

• Journalist Raneen Sawafta, a cameraman, was injured by an Israeli bullet, and three of his colleagues were injured by fragments during the raid in Kafr Dan, Jenin.

• Jaraah Khalaf, one of the injured journalists, reported that he and other reporters were covering an Israeli siege on a house in Kafr Dan, near Jenin, when they came under direct Israeli fire. Khalaf emphasized that all journalists were clearly identified, wearing vests labeled with "PRESS" in English, and their vehicles also carried the same insignia. According to witnesses, Israeli army forces raided the town early Tuesday, besieging a house and demanding its occupants surrender via loudspeakers. The house was subsequently demolished by Israeli military bulldozers, with the Health Ministry reporting that a child and another Palestinian were injured during the raid.

• An Israeli soldier opened fire at Palestinian journalists whilst they were covering the invasion of the occupation forces in Thenaba neighborhood in Tulkarm city.

Conclusion :

• According to live footage, Israeli soldiers used machine guns, bulldozers, and grenades to target journalists in various locations, including Jenin, Nablus, and Kafr Dan.

• On September more than 5 journalists, including Jarah Kalaf, were injured by Israeli army fire in the West Bank.

• On 3 September, The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate says Israeli forces are targeting journalists with live bullets in the town of Kafr Dan, west of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, reports the Wafa news agency.