Armed men attack Reuters' Gaza bureau, beat staff

The men told Reuters journalists that they came from the internal security services of Hamas, the Islamist group which governs the Palestinian enclave, but they showed no documents. A senior official of Hamas condemned the violence and denied that the group was involved in the attack.

Following a demonstration in Gaza City, the men stormed the bureaus of Reuters, CNN and the Japanese news channel NHK, attacking journalists, confiscating tapes and destroying equipment, CNN and others reported. Security forces hit a Reuters employee with an iron bar, threatened to throw another out of a window of the high-rise building and smashed a television and computer keyboard, Crispian Balmer, bureau chief for Israel and Palestinian Territories, told CNN and The Associated Press. The group, which numbered about 10 men, smashed a television set and other equipment before leaving.

A senior official of Hamas condemned the violence and denied that the group was involved in the attack. “Initial information shows these men were not from the government. We have arrested some of them and we are going to interrogate them and see who they were acting for,” interior minister Fathi Hammad told reporters. He added that he had told all security services to treat journalists with respect and prevent attacks on them.

Editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said: “We are extremely concerned at this unwarranted assault on our staff and urge the authorities to ensure that journalists can work freely in Gaza.” The Reuters staff attacked were Palestinian. 

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists  condemned the attacks and the efforts of authorities to prevent the world from seeing and reading about crucial international affairs.

“Today's attack on media offices and working journalists in Gaza is a brazen attempt to censor the news,” said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator. “Hamas must understand that violence against media, who are the eyes and ears of the people, will only erode its own legitimacy – both domestically and internationally.”

Following the raid journalists held a sit-in to denounce the government’s treatment of media. It was the second attack on media in Gaza in less than a week by Hamas security personnel. On Tuesday Hamas security forces attacked journalists as they were covering demonstrations. Many journalists were injured and one was stabbed. ■