Israeli Occupation Forces Raid Palestinian News Agency Wafa

sraeli Occupying Force inside of Wafa building in Occupied West Bank. | Photo: Twitter / @WAFA_PS

Israeli Occupying Force raided the official Palestinian news agency Wafa Monday in the occupied West Bank. Wafa said on its website that troops entered the server room and went through recordings at its main office in West Bank city of Ramallah.

"They withdrew from the agency's office after they took copies of the security camera footage," it said.

Mobile phone footage on Wafa's website showed five soldiers inside the newsroom, instructing employees to open a room as someone is heard saying "the cameras are in there."

The news agency wrote on Twitter, “Wafa agency staff injured after the occupation fired a heavy barrage of tear gas in the vicinity of the agency.”

On Sunday, a Palestinian drive-by shooting targeted a group of Israelis at a bus stop next to a settlement, critically wounding six people, the military said.

"Our security forces ... are pursuing those murderers. They will capture them. We will deal with them to the fullest extent of the law and settle the score with them," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks Monday.

A statement from the army Monday said it was searching nearby villages for the perpetrators. It was unclear if the Wafa raid was connected to the shooting.

"Occupation forces invade the headquarters of the Palestinian News and Information agency WAFA , and detain its staff."
Israeli soldiers were also seen operating elsewhere in Ramallah Monday, requesting businesses to hand over security camera footage.

Clashes broke out in some areas between protesting Palestinians and Israeli occupation soldiers firing tear gas. Two Palestinians were injured by live fire, a Palestinian medical official said.

The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Ministry of Information also condemned the Israeli raid on Wafa as "a blatant violation committed by the occupation army against all Palestinian media."

"This crime is another one in the series of crimes by the occupation forces against the official media," said Ahmed Assaf, General Supervisor of Wafa, in a statement to Palestine TV. "It will not prevent us from doing our work toward our people and to expose the occupation crimes to the world."

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