Reporters Without Borders has voiced strong condemnation of a 19 July 2006 Israeli army attack on Al-Jazeera TV reporter Jevara Al-Budeiri and her crew in the West Bank town of Nablus, in which one of the crew’s technicians, Wael Tantous, was hit in the foot by rubber bullets. The crew was broadcasting live at the time. “We are very concerned about repeated, deliberate acts of violence against the staff of the satellite TV news station Al-Jazeera,” the organisation said. “We call on the Israeli authorities to give clear orders to stop these acts of intimidation and harassment. The army has no right to prevent this station’s journalists from covering the current clashes.” Read more about Israeli army fires on Al-Jazeera crew in West Bank 

Voicing concern about attacks on journalists in Lebanon in the past 48 hours and the lack of resources being deployed to protect them, Reporters Without Borders has called on the Israeli authorities to investigate the circumstances in which three journalists with the Lebanese television station New TV were injured on 12 July 2006. Reporter Bassel Al-Aridi, cameraman Abd Khayyat and assistant cameraman Ziad Sarwan were injured when their vehicle was hit by shots fired from an Israeli helicopter as they crossed a bridge in the south of the country, where they had gone to cover the fighting. This took place during an Israeli air raid aimed at cutting lines of communication and destroying bridges. Read more about Seven journalists and media workers injured in Lebanon 

Reporters Without Borders condemned a 5 June 2006 attack on Palestinian national TV installations in the south of the Gaza Strip and urged Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to put a stop to violence against journalists in the Palestinian territories. Witnesses blamed the attack on gunmen of the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. “It is essential that effective measures are taken to ensure the physical safety of journalists,” Reporters Without Borders said. Read more about Palestinian PM urged to punish gunmen who attacked TV bureau 

Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about the kidnapping of two French journalists, Caroline Laurent of “Elle” and Alfred Yaghobzadeh of “Sipa”, and South Korean journalist Yong Tae-young of KBS on 14 March in Gaza City, hours after an Israeli army raid on a prison in the West Bank city of Jericho. “We call on the kidnappers to free their hostages, who were just doing their job as journalists and can in no way be held responsible for Israeli army operations in the West Bank, and we call on the Palestinian authorities to do everything possible to locate them and ensure they are returned safe and sound to their families,” the organisation said. Read more about Media watchdog calls for the release of three journalists kidnapped in Gaza City 

Reporters Without Borders has said it shared the outrage of the pan-Arab satellite TV station Al Arabiya, which issued a statement on 27 December 2005 condemning an Israeli decision to ban one of its correspondents, British journalist Bassem El-Jamal, from entering the Palestinian Territories. The ban is the latest in a long series of press freedom violations by the Israeli army against the Arab media. “We call on the Israeli authorities to immediately lift the ban on Bassem El-Jamal, for which there are absolutely no grounds,” Reporters Without Borders said, adding that it was vital for journalists to be able to freely cover the run-up to the Palestinian legislative elections on 25 January 2006. Read more about Al Arabiya journalist barred in latest case of discrimination against Arab media 

Reporters Without Borders has voiced outrage at the use of violence by Israeli soldiers on Al Jazeera cameraman Nabil Al Mazzawi, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on 4 November 2005, and called on the Israeli authorities to give an explanation. Mazzawi was filming a demonstration at the Israeli-built separation barrier when he was beaten by Israeli soldiers and subsequently detained for several hours. “A rapid and thorough investigation must be carried out to establish the circumstances of this excessive behaviour,” the press freedom organisation said. An Israeli police spokesman confirmed that the cameraman was detained for several hours and claimed that he had attacked a border guard. Al Jazeera broadcast footage showing that this was not true. Read more about Al Jazeera cameraman beaten by soldiers 

Amid French judicial moves to reactivate an investigation into the near-fatal shooting of “Paris Match” reporter Jacques-Marie Bourget on 21 October 2000 in Ramallah, on the West Bank, RSF reported that it has been granted civil party status in the case before a high-level court in Paris. “We are calling for the clarification of the circumstances of the shooting in which Bourget nearly died,” the organisation said. “He has been demanding justice for five years and it is high time that all the witnesses, without exception, are finally questioned by judicial investigators.” French judge Michèle Ghanassia revived the case on 7 September 2005 by issuing a formal written request to the Israeli authorities to question the Israeli soldiers who witnessed the shooting, so that she can complete her investigation. Read more about Investigation into shooting French reporter reactivated 

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has condemned the 14 August 2005 kidnapping of France 3 television crew soundman Mohamed Ouathi by three gunmen in Gaza and urged the Palestinian authorities to do everything possible to ensure that he is quickly released. Ouathi and the three other members of the French television station’s crew - Gwenaëlle Lenoir, Michel Anglade and Franck Pairaud - were returning to their hotel when they were intercepted by three gunmen. The other crew members were able to escape but Ouathi was taken away at gunpoint. France 3 condemned Ouathi’s abduction as a “violation of press freedom” and called for his “immediate release.” Read more about Gunmen kidnap France 3 soundman in Gaza