Hamas closes journalists offices in Gaza....

But, they were democratically elected!

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate on Tuesday condemned the closure of its offices in the Gaza Strip by Hamas security officers.

The syndicate also condemned the summoning of its representatives for interrogation by Hamas’s security forces.

The syndicate said it held Hamas responsible for the safety of the journalists in the Gaza Strip, and called for its offices to be reopened.

“We demand that Hamas also apologize for this new crime against our syndicate and its board members,” said one of the heads of the syndicate in the West Bank. “We urge Arab and foreign journalists and human rights activists to intervene with Hamas to stop its repeated crimes against the syndicate and its members in the Gaza Strip.”

The Fatah-dominated group noted that the closure of its Gaza offices had come just as it had begun organizing workshops to train local journalists and work toward preventing a split in the syndicate.

It said that the latest measure against its offices in the Strip was part of a wider Hamas campaign targeting Palestinian journalists and institutions, and that in the past few years, Hamas security forces had closed down more than 25 press offices and detained dozens of journalists in the Gaza Strip.