The Foreign Press Association has lodged a protest against Hamas, accusing the Palestinian terrorist organization of harassment and threatening foreign workers in Gaza, Agence France-Presse reports.
According to the report, the FPA stated Hamas had employed "blatant, incessant, forceful and unorthodox methods" against visiting international journalists on hand to cover the Gaza conflict:
The FPA, in a statement, protested "in the strongest terms".
"The international media are not advocacy organisations and cannot be prevented from reporting by means of threats or pressure, thereby denying their readers and viewers an objective picture from the ground," it said.
"In several cases, foreign reporters working in Gaza have been harassed, threatened or questioned over stories or information they have reported through their news media or by means of social media."
Hundreds of foreign journalists travelled to Gaza during more than a month of fighting between Israel and the Hamas, with perhaps 10 percent reporting difficulties from the authorities, FPA said.
Those threatened were reluctant to speak up publicly, for fear of violent retribution:
It said one photographer spoke of being beaten up and having a camera smashed; a news photographer had a camera confiscated for three days and Hamas also asked people to remove tweets and YouTube videos.
A European company was also threatened in the middle of the street when filming an anti-Hamas demonstration.
The FPA said Hamas was also trying to put in place a "vetting" procedure that would, in effect, allow for the blacklisting of specific journalists.