The US State Department condemned the harassment and attacks suffered by two journalists during the flag parade in Jerusalem, and urged Israel to protect journalists.

The official spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Matthew Miller, said on Thursday, in response to a question from the Al-Quds.com correspondent, about the American government’s position on the attack by extremist settlers on journalist Saif Qawasmi, who beat him: “We have seen video clips of this incident, and we have seen pictures of this incident.” "We strongly condemn it."

Miller added: “Journalists and media workers are essential to democracy. They should not be attacked anywhere in the world, including in Israel, for doing their work. We expect Israel to respect its stated commitment to human rights and freedom of the press. We expect them to protect journalists of this kind.” "If there are violations of the criminal law, we expect people to be held fully accountable."

In response to a follow-up question by a Jerusalem correspondent about whether the Israeli occupation authorities would take the United States’ position on this issue seriously, Miller said: “We are what the United States’ expectations are. But we have shown time and time again that we are ready to hold difficult talks with Israel about these matters.” ".

In turn, the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the harassment and attacks against Palestinian journalists at the hands of the occupation authorities, and the Program Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Carlos Martinez de la Serna, said that the Israeli security forces “stood by without doing anything” while the demonstrators harassed and assaulted the journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Israel to investigate these incidents and hold those responsible accountable.

It is noteworthy that the Israeli occupation police arrested the Palestinian photographer Saif Qawasmi, who was attacked on Wednesday by Israeli settlers who participated in the flag march in Jerusalem, before he was later released.

During the march, which commemorates the occupation of East Jerusalem, on June 5, 1967, Israeli settlers and demonstrators, said to be from the extreme right, attacked the independent Palestinian journalist, Al-Qawasmi, who works with the local Al-Asimah news network, and the Israeli journalist Nir Hasson, correspondent for the newspaper “Haaretz.” "The Israeli daily, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said, "The Palestinian photographer was detained for several hours, while the police did not arrest any of the attackers, nor did they summon any suspects for investigation or witnesses to testify."

It quoted Qawasmi as saying, “The police detained him after a well-known far-right activist in Jerusalem contacted them and claimed that he (Qawasmi) was a Hamas agent.”