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Two photographers attacked in Hebron

(MADA/IFEX) - The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns the attacks on Abdel-Hafiz Hashlamoun, a correspondent and photographer for the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA), and on photographer Najeh Hashlamoun, of the ABA agency, in two separate incidents in east Hebron on the morning of 29 October 2009.

According to Abdel-Hafiz Hashlamoun, an Israeli soldier beat him with his gun in his midsection and kicked him when he was filming operations by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian territory of Hebron. The attack resulted in bruises and scratches on various parts of Abdel-Hafiz Hashlamoun's body and he suffered from severe pain in the area of his waist.

Najeh Hashlamoun said, "We heard that Israeli workers belonging to the civil administration were destroying irrigation pipes that belong to Palestinian farmers in east Hebron. When we went there to cover the story, the workers attacked me and hit me in the face with my camera, causing bleeding in my mouth." He added that they also tried to attack Reuter's photographer Nayef Hashlamoun, but the Palestinian farmers protected him. Najeh Hashlamoun said that Israeli army personnel subsequently came and took the workers away with them.

MADA once again calls on the international community to intervene immediately to stop Israeli attacks on Palestinian journalists.