A Palestinian press freedom group has recorded over 100 violations of media freedom in the first half of 2012, a slight decline on last year, a report said this week.
"The status of media freedoms in the occupied Palestinian territories remains under serious threat," the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms said Wednesday.
MADA documented 102 press freedom violations in the first six months of 2012, compared to 113 in the same period in 2011, the group's report said.
Of these, 61 were committed by Israeli authorities, including 31 physical attacks on journalists.
The remaining 41 were carried out by Palestinian authorities, MADA said, noting that these incidents were accompanied by "self-censorship due to the internal Fatah-Hamas split and the near absence of investigative journalism."
MADA Director Mousa Rimawi said: "The number of violations committed against journalists and media institutions in Palestine remains high overall, which indicates the on-going deterioration in media freedoms and the oppressive working atmosphere for journalists."
"This encourages self-censorship among journalists, who wish to avoid being subjected to violations, including being detained."
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