19 Palestinian journalists held in Israeli prisons: NGO

Israel is holding 19 Palestinian journalists and media workers in prison, an Arab journalists rights group said on Thursday.

The Beirut-based Journalists' Support Committee said in a statement that the number of journalists held in Israeli prisons rose on Thursday to 19 after the detention of Abdul Mohsen Shalalda from his home in Hebron, West Bank.

According to the statement, nine of those arrested have already been sentenced, six are still under Israel's administrative detention policy, while three others are awaiting their verdicts.

"The Palestinian journalists are subjected to arrest and targeting, especially during their coverage of the occupation's incursions into towns and cities," the NGO said.

It called for the need to implement the UN Security Council resolution for the protection of journalists, calling on the international community to take action to put an end to "impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes."

It also appealed to the human rights organizations concerned with the need to "take action to stop the crimes committed against Palestinian media professionals and to intervene effectively in order to release 19 detained journalists in the occupation prisons."

At least 4,700 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, including 150 minors and 29 women, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society.