In Gaza and West Bank, Palestinian journalists fear squeeze on free press


Palestinians use their smartphones to follow the news outside a store in Gaza City September 19, 2016. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

GAZA/RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - On Sept. 1, half a dozen Hamas security officials called at the home of Mohammed Othman, a young journalist in Gaza who had written several probing articles. They seized two laptops, two mobile phones and took Othman away for questioning.

Twenty-four hours later, after what he described as an intense interrogation, the 29-year-old was released, but not before he had been asked to sign a document promising not to criticise Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza, or its security services. Othman says he refused.

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