Palestinian Press Agency
Palestinian news agency in Gaza
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Palestinian Press Agency (Arabic: وكالة الصحافة الفلسطينية, romanized: Wikālat aṣ-Ṣaḥāfa al-Filasṭīniyya), also known as the Safa News Agency or Safa Press Agency (stylized as SAFA; Arabic: صفا), is a Gaza-based Palestinian news agency affiliated with Hamas.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
وكالة الصحافة الفلسطينية | |
 | |
| Abbreviation | SAFA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 5 July 2009 |
| Type | News agency |
Official language | Arabic |
| Website | safa |
The agency was launched on July 5, 2009, and headed by Yasser Abu-Hin, who previously directed Hamas-affiliated PalMedia.[3][2] Abu-Hin states that the agency is independent and not affiliated with Hamas. He described Safa's goal as to "expose the crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people as a national priority." According to Wael Abdelal of Qatar University, Hamas leaders who work in media such as Safa are generally reticent to publicly declare media institutions' affiliation with Hamas.[7]
Facebook deleted the agency's page in March 2018 as part of a broader blocking of Palestinian accounts for alleged incitement. According to Palestinian activists, Facebook deleted the accounts of more than 500 journalists and pages since the beginning of 2018.[1][8]
