Determined to silence critical media, one way or another
Israel wounds AFP, Reuters photographers
Israeli forces shoot at hundreds of Palestinians protesters, wound seven in West Bank clashes.
BETHLEHEM, West Bank - At least seven Palestinians were wounded on Saturday when hundreds of people clashed with Israeli troops near Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian security officials said.
The fighting broke out when around a dozen Israeli military jeeps surrounded an apartment building in Al-Doha village and closed off nearby roads, according to Palestinian witnesses.
Hundreds of Palestinians massed in the area and hurled rocks at the soldiers, who responded with gunfire and called in another dozen vehicles, including armoured bulldozers, they said.
The seven wounded were hit by live rounds and rubber bullets, a security official said.
Later the soldiers began throwing rocks at the protestors, hitting several people, including an AFP photographer, whose camera was broken, and a photographer from the Reuters news service.
The Israeli army would not immediately comment on the incident.
The Israeli military carries out frequent operations in the occupied West Bank despite allowing Palestinian security forces to patrol certain areas.
Israel urged to bare findings in journalist's death
On Wednesday the Committee to Protect Journalists called on Israel to release findings of an army investigation into the killing of a Reuters cameraman in the Gaza Strip in April.
Fadel Shana, a 24-year-old Palestinian, was hit by a spray of metal darts from a controversial type of Israeli missile on April 16 as he filmed an Israeli tank dug in about 1.5 km (a mile) away.
The CPJ expressed concerns about the case in a meeting with Israel's ambassador to the United States, Sallai Meridor, the New York-based organization said in a statement.
CPJ Senior Program Coordinator Joel Campagna told the ambassador: "We hope that Israeli authorities will provide answers that help explain this shocking incident," the statement said.
Campagna said the journalists' group was disappointed that two months after the incident there had not been conclusive information on the killing from the Israeli authorities.
Shana's soundman, Wafa Abu Mizyed, was wounded in the wrist and eight other Palestinians were killed in the incident. A Reuters car carrying "TV" and "Press" markings was destroyed.
Reuters, backed by media organizations in the region and around the world, had requested an urgent investigation by the Israeli army, which has defended its use of flechette missiles, which spray tiny metal darts, in Gaza over complaints by human rights activists.
The news agency has also urged the Israeli military to share the findings of its investigation.
Journalists have been casualties on numerous occasions by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territories. Media watchdogs estimate that at least eight journalists have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 2001.
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