A/HRC/43/70 as part of demonstrations across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Israel and Lebanon. The entirely peaceful demonstration reached Damascus Gate, where some demonstrators raised a Palestinian flag, at which point the Israeli security forces forcibly dispersed the demonstration, pushing the women, confiscating the flag and preventing the demonstration from continuing. 39. In Gaza, a female journalist affiliated with Fatah reported that Gaza security forces had summoned her brother shortly after she had published an article criticizing the Hamasled crackdown of a Fatah assembly. On 7 January, an officer from the Gaza internal security agency warned the brother that the authorities would take measures against him if he did not convince his sister to stop criticizing the authorities in Gaza. Attacks on media and journalists 40. The Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms42 received allegations that during the reporting period the Israeli security forces had injured43 113 journalists, including five women, in Gaza and the West Bank and had arrested or detained 40 journalists. The Israeli security forces reportedly bombed and destroyed two news agencies in Gaza and raided the WAFA news agency44 in Ramallah. Palestinian Authority security forces reportedly detained 22 journalists,45 which represents a significant decrease in the activities of the security forces since May 2019, after which five detentions and no attempts to prevent coverage by media outlets were reported. The decrease suggests that the new Government of the State of Palestine is making efforts to uphold the promises made to the public to prevent the detention of and attacks against journalists. 46 The de facto authorities in Gaza reportedly detained 46 journalists, including one woman, prevented media coverage of specific events on five occasions and prevented the distribution of one newspaper.47 According to a poll carried out by the Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms among journalists in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 90 per cent of the 182 respondents said they exercised self-censorship for fear of reprisals from security forces and nearly the same proportion did so owing to social considerations. The Centre reported that Facebook had closed 142 accounts of journalists in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, citing its own rules. 41. From 25 July 2018, the journalist and writer Lama Khater was detained by the Israeli security forces on charges of being a member of and carrying out activities for a banned group. She reported various forms of ill-treatment, including one month in solitary confinement, 17 days of interrogations lasting 20 hours a day, handcuffing to the back of a small chair and sleep deprivation. Interrogators reportedly threatened her with lengthy detention and the detention of her children unless she provided a confession, which she refused. The interrogations ended on 26 August 2018 and Ms. Khater was released on 26 July 2019 on a plea bargain following charges of being a member of and carrying out activities for a banned group, for served time and a fine. Her 19-year-old son was detained by the Israeli security forces on 2 July 2019 and remains in custody, as part of a group of over 6048 students reportedly arrested at Birzeit University in 2019. 42. In the West Bank, a journalist was arrested twice while covering demonstrations in Nablus and Ramallah. Palestinian Authority security forces detained him for 18 days on suspicion of inciting sectarian strife until a court ordered his release on 6 January 2019. He was again arrested for five hours on 15 January and forced to delete footage. 43. On 17 October 2019, the Palestinian Authority Ramallah Magistrate Court blocked approximately 50 web pages, some belonging to popular news outlets, invoking national security, civic peace, public order and morals. Such generic bans on websites are not 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 www.madacenter.org/en. Injuries with live ammunition, shrapnel, rubber-coated bullets and direct hits with gas canisters. http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=2wTHZxa107687996691a2wTHZx. Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms. www.alquds.com/articles/1555229023511210200/ (in Arabic only). Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms. Birzeit University “Right to education” campaign. 9