Israeli Border Police officers beat and injured Anadolu Agency photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf and attacked cameraman Faiz Abu Ramila in East Jerusalem on 15 December, the same day that the Israeli military killed Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa and injured bureau chief Wael Al Dahdouh in Gaza. Footage shows Israeli police harassing Alkharouf before hitting him with a gun, forcing him to the ground, and kicking him in the head repeatedly. Alkharouf, who was covering Friday prayers in Al-Aqsa Mosque, was injured and hospitalized as a result of the physical assault, while Abu Ramila’s condition is unknown. The Israeli Police said it suspended the officers involved and opened an investigation into the incident. The Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) Program Director, Carlos Martínez de la Serna, denounced the attack. “The physical attack on Mustafa Alkharouf is not a singular incident. It belongs to a pattern of physical attacks, assaults, and threats by Israeli soldiers and settlers on journalists reporting from the West Bank and Israel that have dramatically increased since October 7,” de la Serna said on 15 December. He called on Israeli authorities to stop attacking journalists. Meanwhile, responding to…
Israeli Police Beat Photojournalist in Jerusalem, CPJ: Part of a Pattern of Physical Assault
December 16, 2023
