382 Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists in 2017

Ramallah [Palestine], Jan 8 (ANI): In a report documented by Palestine's Wafa news agency, the Israeli forces committed violence on at least 382 Palestinian journalists on duty in both Israel and Palestine in 2017.

In a report released on Monday, the Wafa agency noted that the violations included the use of live fire, rubber-coated bullets and teargas canisters against journalists, in addition to physical beating and arrest.

The report said that around 213 journalists were injured by live fire or rubber-coated rounds, suffocated by teargas or beaten by Israeli forces. At least, 142 more were either arrested or targeted by gun fires. Another 27 of them were documented by the forces, showing them being thrashed.

"Although journalists wear vests with visible signs, indicating their work during the confrontation, the occupation forces do not care about this. They target them directly in order to prevent the truth about (Israel's) barbaric crimes from being known", the report also mentioned.

The report comes after days, when on, December 6 last year, the United States President Donald Trump announced the decision of recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Since then, protests have erupted in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. The Israeli forces have killed 12 Palestinians. At least 2,900 others have been injured and more than 400 arrested so far.

On December 24 last year, Israel also sealed off the entrance to the West Bank cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh until further notice.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has also rejected the U.S. peace efforts and called on the European Union (EU) to take the lead in the Israel-Palestine peace process.

Jerusalem is considered a sacred place, which is home to Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites. However, it is also a disputed territory, contested by both Israel and Palestine, which sees it as the capital of its future state. (ANI)