Palestine: women journalists released in ceasefire deal
Rula Hassanein, Bushra Al-Tawil and Ashwaq Awad have been released from Israeli jails following agreement of a ceasefire deal.
The National Union of Journalists joins the International Federation of Journalists (IFJJ) and its affiliate the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS), in welcoming the release of three women journalists among the 90 Palestinian prisoners released on 20 January.
The IFJ has published the following detail about the journalists:
Bushra Al-Tawil is a Palestinian journalist and a PJS member who works for J-Media Network and was arrested and held in administrative detention on 7 March 2024, as reported by the PJS. Al-Tawil has been arrested several times and has spent more than five years in Israeli jails at various times.
Israel’s security forces arrested PJS member Rula Hassanein on 9 March 2024 during a raid on her home in Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank. They confiscated her laptop and phone. When the journalist was arrested, she had to leave her nine-month-old baby with her husband.
Hassanein, who worked for the Ramallah-based Wattan News Agency and had earlier worked for Quds News Network, is well known for her coverage of the Israeli occupation and human rights violations. She was tried before an Israeli military court at Israel’s Ofer Prison and charged with incitement on social media for posts she had published.
Ashwaq Awad is a freelance photographer at Quds News Network and a PJS member. She was arrested on 31 August 2024 at a checkpoint in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, when the Israeli military was closing the entrances to the city, according to Wafa news agency. Awad was charged with incitement on social media for posts she published, according to PJS.
The NUJ welcomed news of the ceasefire deal last week, urging clear guarantees for press freedom, whilst underscoring the need for unfettered foreign media access into Gaza. Under terms agreed in the deal ratified on 19 January, both sides must cease operations for 42 days, dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will be released. Israeli troops will also gradually withdraw from Gaza.
Anthony Bellanger, IFJ general secretary, said:
“We celebrate the return home of our four colleagues, who should never have been deprived of their freedom. Once again, we praise the relentless work of our affiliate, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and fully back their efforts for the release of jailed Palestinian journalists. Israel must halt its persecution of Palestinian journalists, and immediately and unconditionally release them all.”