The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today condemned Israeli security forces' injuring of Palestinian photographer Moath Amarneh and called on Israeli authorities to immediately open an investigation into the incident and hold those responsible into account.

Amarneh, a photographer for the London-based news agency Sanad and for the West Bank-based media production company GMedia, was hit in the left eye on November 15 by a metallic bullet fired by an Israeli soldier while covering a protest in the southern West Bank village of Surif against Israel's plan to seize Palestinian land for the construction of the apartheid wall.

His injury is considered serious and he had already undergone two operations and is at risk of permanently losing sight in his left eye.

"Israeli security forces have repeatedly shown utter disregard for the lives and safety of journalists, as seen by the severe injury suffered by Palestinian photographer Moath Amarneh," said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado. "We call on Israeli authorities to immediately open an investigation into the incident and hold the soldiers responsible to account."

Israeli security forces fired tear gas into a group of journalists who were staging a protest over Amarneh's injuries, and briefly detained two demonstrators.

Dozens of Palestinian journalists have been injured and at least two, Ahmed Abu Hussein and Yaser Murtaja, have been killed covering protests in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Gaza border protests in March 2018, according to CPJ research.