Share this: TwitterFacebookWhatsAppLinkedInEmailTelegramNew York, July 16, 2020 – Gaza authorities should immediately lift their bans on the Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath broadcasters and allow them to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip, which is run by Hamas, banned the Saudi-funded news channels from working in Gaza, and banned local journalists from appearing on their broadcasts, according to news reports and reports from the local press groups the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and MADA. In a statement, Hamas described the report as “fake news” and accused Al-Arabiya of disseminating lies from Israeli intelligence. Ziyad al-Halabi, director of the Al-Arabiya office in Jerusalem, told MADA that the outlet had reached out to Hamas leaders for comment on the alleged defection, but they refused to comment or to deny the report. CPJ emailed and sent text messages to the Gaza Interior Ministry and the Hamas Information Office for comment, but did not receive any responses.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 16, 2020 19:30 UTC