Masked men raid Palestine TV studio in Gaza

Unknown assailants raided the headquarters of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) in Gaza City in the besieged Gaza Strip this afternoon and destroyed equipment.

The Palestinian Authority (PA)-owned WAFA news agency reported that a group of masked men, armed with batons, sharp objects and pistols raided the PBC headquarters in Gaza City’s neighbourhood of Tal Al-Hawa.

The armed men destroyed equipment and tools inside the headquarters, including transmission and recording equipment, cameras, computers, furniture and surveillance cameras.

They also destroyed the archives and portraits of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and late president Yasser Arafat.

A Ma’an reporter said that the raid took place at the time of Friday prayers when the office was almost empty.

Fatah condemned the attack saying: “The movement expresses its strong condemnation of the violations against freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of the press and access to information, and it holds Hamas fully responsible for this terrible crime, as the body responsible for security in the Gaza Strip.”

It went on to call on all Palestinian factions, human rights groups, civil institutions and the international and Arab federations to protect journalists and media organisations operating in the Gaza Strip.

Source: MEM