Palestinian journalists say that they were fired on by the Israeli military during a raid in the occupied West Bank town of Kafr Dan.
Mohammed Mansour, a journalist for the Palestinian news agency WAFA, was injured when the car he was driving was struck by gunfire, according to video of the aftermath and his employer.
Footage filmed in the car by freelance journalist Jarah Khalaf shows a chaotic scene, as Mansour races through the streets and blood pours from his leg. All journalists were wearing flak jackets with “press” labels, and the car bore a “press” identifier on its hood.
“The occupation surprised us by shooting at us directly. Our colleague Mohammed Mansour was here in this car,” said Khalaf. “The army shot at us more than once, even though we had press signs and were wearing body armor and everything.”
TOPSHOT - A Palestinian activist lifts a national flag and flashes the victory sign as Israeli armoured vehicles including a bulldozer drive on a street during a raid in Tulkarem on September 3, 2024, amid a large-scale military offensive launched a week earlier in the occupied West Bank. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP) (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)
Israeli security officials fear West Bank is on the brink of third intifada, says journalist
WAFA said that the Israeli military “fired live bullets directly at the vehicle,” which was carrying four journalists reporting on the Tuesday raid. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that it treated four journalists who were injured by gunfire and shrapnel.
Violence from the Israeli offensive in Gaza since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks has spilled into the occupied West Bank in recent months. The IDF unleashed a barrage of raids and airstrikes in multiple parts of the territory on August 28 – including in the cities of Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem – bulldozing highways and razing buildings to rubble.
The IDF has said that its operations in the West Bank are necessary “in order to remove immediate terror threats in real time.”
Humanitarian groups have accused the Israeli military of using disproportionate force against Palestinian residents, inflicting severe damage on critical infrastructure and disrupting health care services. On Tuesday, a UN spokesperson warned that Israeli forces are using “lethal war-like tactics” in the occupied territory, with people being killed, injured and displaced – and have blocked critical access to aid organizations.
An Israeli bulldozer tears up a street as members of the press film during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on September 1, 2024.
‘We were directly targeted’
On Monday, two Palestinian journalists were injured by shrapnel and had to dodge Israeli bulldozers while covering the devastation left by forces in the city of Jenin, according to video obtained by CNN and interviews with the journalists. The sound of gunfire can be heard in the background.
In another video, reporters film Israeli military bulldozers tearing up the surface of a street in Jenin. The IDF says this is done to find and dismantle explosive devices.
“This was one of the craziest and most dangerous days of coverage, as we were directly targeted,” Shatha Hanaysha, a reporter for the Mondoweiss news website, said on Monday. She told CNN that she sustained minor shrapnel injuries to her leg. “We saw Israeli journalists with the military today … While they fire at us, they treat the Israeli journalists in a different way. These are double standards.”
Khalaf said he was also among the journalists filming the Israeli military bulldozers on Monday, when suddenly “a bulldozer started backing on us.”
“We moved down the road when the bulldozer turned … and chased after us,” added Khalaf. “We were trapped behind a wall, but the bulldozer kept coming forward toward us when it started destroying shops and the sidewalk we were on. We were trapped for a few minutes before we managed to get away.”
Israeli forces have killed 33 Palestinians in the West Bank, including six children and two elderly people, since launching the operation last month, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. Another 130 people have been injured. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, said Friday that three of its members had been killed.
“I was released late Monday and I am well. I am now with my family,” said Kassem, 28.
“I will return to my work as a journalist as soon as possible.”
Local police from pro-Turkiye factions detained Kassem on August 26 in the city of Al-Bab, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Turkish border.
He had been covering an event in the city with his wife Nabiha Taha, who is also a journalist.
Kassem said he was questioned about his work as a journalist in areas controlled by Ankara-backed factions, and that no official charges were brought against him.
“We are relieved that Bakr has been freed and we thank all the colleagues and organizations that expressed their solidarity with him during his detention,” said AFP’s Global News Director Phil Chetwynd.
“We hope that he will be able to resume his work without any restrictions.”
Kassem has worked as a photographer and correspondent for AFP since 2018 covering Syria’s civil war, as well as a deadly earthquake in February 2023 in which he lost 17 family members.
He has also worked for Turkiye’s official Anadolu news agency and local Syrian media outlets.
AFP, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had called for his immediate release.
RSF in a statement on X welcomed “the good news” of Kassem’s release, saying it was “relieved” he was free, but noting “72 reporters remain detained or missing in Syria.”
The country is ranked second-last in the world on RSF’s press freedom index.
Local journalists and activists had organized sit-ins in the region demanding Kassem be freed, some holding signs reading “journalism is not a crime.”
Syria’s war began after the repression of anti-government protests in 2011 and spiralled into a complex conflict drawing in foreign armies and jihadists, killing more than 500,000 people and displacing millions.
Turkish troops and Turkiye-backed rebel factions control swathes of northern Syria, and Ankara has launched successive cross-border offensives since 2016.
