Palestinian Authority Detains West Bank Journalists Connected to Hamas

The Palestinian Authority arrested five journalists on Tuesday evening and charged them with leaking sensitive information to enemies.

According to Shireen al-Khatib, an associate at the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedom, the detained journalists include Tariq Abu Zayd and Ahmad Halaika of Hamas-run al-Aqsa television, The Jerusalem Post reported. The three others were identified as Qutaiba Kasem, who writes for the privately-owned news website Asdaa Press, as well as Mamdouh Hamamreh of the pro-Hamas television station al-Quds and Amer Abu Arafa of the Shihab news agency.

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Grant Rumley, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warned that if the West fails to challenge Abbas’ ever-growing corruption and autocratic rule, it “could have a devastating effect on the long-term prospects for a viable Palestinian state.”

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