Israel abducted 66 journalists in occupied West Bank since October 7 — NGO

Israel has abducted 66 journalists, four of them female, in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the beginning of its invasion of besieged Gaza last October, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, a noted non-governmental organisation.

This came after Israeli occupation authorities seized 32-year-old journalist Asmaa Nuh Hreish at her home in Ramallah in central West Bank on Wednesday morning.

The NGO, which was established in 1993 to support political prisoners in Israeli occupation jails, said in a statement that "the number of journalists detained from the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 7 reached 66, with the occupation keeping 45 of them detained, including four female journalists, the latest being journalist Asmaa."

It noted that her detention "adds to the arrest of her father Nuh and her brother Ahmed."

The NGO said this escalation "comes within the framework of wide-ranging arrest campaigns carried out by the occupation army since October 7, including the notable recent increase in the arrest of women."

The Palestinian Prisoners Club reported that "23 of the detained journalists have been transferred to administrative detention [without charge] under the pretext of having a [secret file], including journalists Ikhlas Sawalha and Bushra Al Taweel."

As for the majority of the remaining detained journalists, "charges related to incitement [against Israel] on social media platforms or by media outlets" were directed against them, it said.

More than 130 journalists killed by Israel

The organisation said, "the occupation has, over the past decades, pursued a policy of seizing journalists alongside a range of policies, crimes, and violations against them in a continuous attempt to silence their voices and fight the Palestinian narrative."

It renewed its call on international human rights institutions to "assume their necessary responsibilities in light of the continuation of genocide against our people in Gaza and the targeting of all segments of Palestinian society through wide and systematic arrest operations."

According to the Prisoners Club, the total number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons until the end of March exceeded 9,400, including 3,661 administrative detainees.

Tensions have been high across the occupied West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against Gaza after a cross-fence raid by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Israel's war on besieged Palestinians of Gaza — now in its 181st day — has killed nearly 33,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 75,000 others. Israel also killed more than 130 journalists and media workers during its war on Gaza.

In occupied West Bank, Israeli troops and illegal Zionist settlers have killed more than 450 Palestinians, including 100 children, since October last year.