Gaza journalists' assault 'unacceptable'

An international press freedom group has slammed an attack on journalists by government security forces in the Gaza Strip earlier this week. Sky News reporter Mohammed Mashharawi, BBC Arabic's Adnan al-Dorosh, and journalist Amer Abu Omar were assaulted while covering a mass wedding of 500 couples on Thursday, funded by a charitable organization and in coordination with Hamas. The International Press Institute said the incident was "unacceptable" in a statement on Friday. A colleague of Mashharawi at Sky told IPI that after the journalists scuffled with a security guard at the event, they were taken to a detention center, beaten and threatened to be shot. The Government Information Bureau contacted the journalists after the incident, he added. The Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip has pledged to identify and punish the assailants. "We welcome the decision of the Ministry of Interior to open an investigation, but more must be done to combat the climate of fear that journalists in Gaza face," IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills said.