And here is this report from the Reporters Without Borders website on Israeli Defense Forces attacks on journalists:2.04.2002
A dozen journalists under gunfire in Ramallah
At least 11 journalists have come under gunfire and three of them have been hit since the Israeli army declared Ramallah a "closed military zone" and barred the media from the West Bank city, the first such ban since the start of the second Intifada in September 2000. Three others were expelled from the city, bringing to about 30 the number of journalists Israeli troops have either fired on, expelled or arrested in that time.
Calling the ban on journalists "a serious new attack on press freedom" in a situation that has steadily worsened over the past few months, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières - RSF) secretary-general Robert Ménard called today on the Israeli civilian authorities to "cancel the ban immediately". "Allowing the Israeli occupation of Ramallah to take place without media witnesses is to foment rumours and disinformation," he said. RSF is also concerned that the army's media ban was extended today to Bethlehem.
RSF notes that Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ratified by Israel guarantees the "freedom to seek, receive and impart information."
Since the beginning of the second Intifada, RSF has counted 52 cases of journalists wounded by gunfire in the Occupied Territories and has established that most of the shooting was done by the Israeli army. It has several times deplored the lack of any serious army enquiry into these shootings. Italian journalist Raffaele Ciriello was killed on 13 March in Ramallah by shots from an Israeli tank. RSF appeals once again for the authorities to seriously investigate all the cases of journalists killed or wounded since September 2000.
On 29 March, Carlos Handal, a cameraman for the Egyptian station Nile TV, was wounded by gunfire while on his way by car to the Lions Square in Ramallah with a colleague.
On 30 March, a crew from the French TV station France 2 were fired at by Israeli troops when they wanted to pass a roadblock between East Jerusalem and Ramallah. The same day, Israeli soldiers broke into the headquarters of Palestinian TV and radio, forcing The Voice of Palestine to go off the air. The troops ordered four journalists to leave their offices. The ministry of culture building which housed a local radio and TV station was also occupied.
Israeli soldiers also entered a building with offices of several Palestinian and foreign media, including the British news agency Reuters, and forced the journalists to leave. Four Turkish journalists were detained for several hours at the Ramallah press centre by Israeli soldiers who searched them, confiscated their passports and stopped them leaving the building.
On 31 March, the vehicle of two Swedish journalists, Bengt Norborg and Rickard Collsiöö, special correspondents for the Swedish public TV station SVT, were the target of warning shots by Israeli troops at a roadblock on the outskirts of Ramallah. An American journalist, Anthony Shahid of the Boston Globe, was hit by in the shoulder by a bullet although he was wearing a bulletproof vest with "Press" written on it. Shahid said he did not see who fired at him but said the area was surrounded by Israeli tanks and soldiers at the time.
On 1 April, Israeli soldiers expelled an American CBS News television team from Ramallah. As this was happening, a vehicle containing six Western reporters and photographers was fired on by Israeli troops near the city centre. "I think the soldiers were irritated," said one of the journalists, who refused to be named. The same day, a Palestinian journalist working for APTN (AP Television News) was hit in the leg at Beit Jala while covering a demonstration by pacifists.
On 2 April, in Bethlehem, Majadi Banura, a cameraman for the Qatari TV station Al-Jazeera, was wounded in the head by a bullet while on a balcony on the fifth floor of the Star Hotel, where about 20 journalists are staying. The same day, Atta Iwisat, a photographer working for the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot and the Gamma news agency, were arrested by Israeli soldiers when they discovered he was not properly accredited.