Al-Jazeera correspondent Ismail Al-Ghoul (Al-Jazeera)
The Israeli occupation forces released Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, colleague Ismail Al-Ghoul, and a number of journalists after detaining them for 12 hours in Al-Shifa Medical Complex.
Immediately after the occupation forces released him, colleague Ismail al-Ghoul told Al Jazeera that he and other journalists were forced to surrender themselves to the occupation forces, who forced them to completely remove their clothes, after they bulldozed the journalists’ tent and destroyed their cars during the storming of the Shifa complex.
Al-Ghoul continued, “The occupation forces handcuffed us, blindfolded us, and interrogated all the journalists present in the place,” noting that these forces kept them there for 12 hours.
Al-Ghoul added that the occupation forces confiscated the journalists' phones, computers, and photography equipment.
Earlier today, Monday, Al Jazeera Media Network called for the immediate release of its correspondent in Gaza, Ismail al-Ghoul, and the journalists detained with him, and held the Israeli occupation army responsible for their safety.
Al Jazeera Network said - in a statement - that this targeting is "another attempt by the occupation army to intimidate journalists to prevent them from reporting the horrific crimes it is committing against innocent civilians in Gaza."
The network confirmed that what colleague Ismail Al-Ghoul was subjected to came within a series of systematic targeting of Al-Jazeera by the occupation authorities, which included the assassination of colleagues Sherine Abu Aqla, Samer Abu Daqqa, and Hamza Al-Dahdouh, the bombing of its office in Gaza, the deliberate targeting of a number of its journalists and their family members, and the arrest and intimidation of its crews in the field. .
Al Jazeera condemned the ongoing crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against journalists and media professionals in Gaza, and renewed its demand for the need to immediately stop these attacks.
Hours ago, the US State Department said that it was communicating with the Israeli side regarding the circumstances of the arrest of Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul.
This new targeting of journalists has sparked condemnation from many international human rights and journalistic bodies, including Reporters Without Borders, and Irene Khan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur concerned with promoting and protecting the right to freedom of opinion and expression, said Khadija Patel, Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Press Institute.
Source: Al Jazeera