Journalist Support Committee: 1 Confirmed Dead Journalist and 5 Others Injured by Live Bullets during the Great March of Return

The Journalist Support Committee holds the occupation responsible for the deliberate targeting of journalists and press crews, resulting in the death of one journalist and the injury of 10 others with live bullets and gas bombs while covering the great march of return on Friday, April 6, 2018, in the Gaza Strip governorates.

The Committee received news this morning the death of photojournalist Yasser Murtaja who sustained a shot in the abdomen with an explosive bullet by an Israeli sniper. Yasser Murtaja, 31 years old, worked for Ain Media as a photojournalist, who like many photojournalists had a dream, and his was to capture aerial photos of the city of Gaza but was never achieved. "I wish for the day where a take a similar photo -of Gaza- but from the air, not the ground" he stated on his Facebook page, "My name is Yaser Murtaja, i'm 30 years old, i live in Gaza, and i have never traveled".

His funeral will take place on Saturday 7, 2018 in Gaza.

The Committee also monitored the following attacks on journalists during their coverage of the march:

- Journalist Adham al-Hajjar, Medi1TV Cameraman, was shot in the foot.

- Journalist Ezz Abu Shanab was shot in the foot. 

- Photographer Khalil Abu Athreh, Al Aqsa TV cameraman, was shot by a live bullet in the foot.

- Freelance photographer Ibrahim Zanoun, sustained a bullet to the hand.

- Journalist Saber Noureddine, works for the German agency, with two bullets in the abdomen and shrapnel in the head.

While dozens of other journalists suffered severe suffocation after inhaling tear gas where medics rushed to the scene.

The Committee confirmed that the occupation deliberately shot at journalists and prevented them from covering, as was done with Palestinian and foreign press crews inside the border strip from the Israeli settlements, where Israeli soldiers prevented them from continuing coverage and moving freely.

The Committee calls on the International Federation of Journalists to set up an urgent commission of inquiry into these attacks and to make an urgent visit to the Palestinian territories to obtain a first-hand assessment of the extent of the ongoing attacks against Palestinian journalists.

The Committee also appealed to the Federation of Arab Journalists to exert pressure on the occupation, through Arab and international unions, to cease its repeated attacks against Palestinian journalists, where a notable increase of Israeli attacks against Palestinian journalists has been observed since the beginning of March of Return and Land Day on March 30, 2018.

The Committee paid tribute to the press crews working in extremely dangerous conditions because of the lack of press armors, shields, helmets and necessary safety equipment due to the occupation's embargo on Gaza and its prevention from entering safety equipment for journalists inside the Palestinian territories. The Committee also paid tribute to the injured journalists and wished them a speedy recovery.

Witness the moment of the injury of journalist Khalil Abu Athreh:

Journalist Support Committee - Palestine
6 April 2018