Palestinian Press Agency

{{short description|Palestinian news agency in Gaza}}

{{Infobox organization

| name = Safa Press Agency

| formation = {{start date and age|2009|7|5|df=yes}}

| logo = Palestinian Press Agency logo.png

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| type = News agency

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| language = Arabic

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| website = {{URL|https://safa.ps/}}

| footnotes =

| native_name = وكالة الصحافة الفلسطينية

| native_name_lang = ar

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The Palestinian Press Agency ({{langx|ar|وكالة الصحافة الفلسطينية}}), also known as the Safa News Agency (stylized as SAFA), is a Gaza-based Palestinian news agency affiliated with Hamas.{{cite news |last1=Abu Saif |first1=Atef |title=Reforming or Instrumentalizing Zakat? A Study of Palestinian Media Coverage |url=https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/12892/files/Media%20Study_%20Zakat%20Committees%2005062012.pdf?subformat=pdfa&version=1 |access-date=5 October 2023 |work=CCDP Report |publisher=Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding |date=May 2012}}{{cite news |last1=Bashir |first1=Abu Bakr |title=Hamas Field Commander Is Killed in Airstrike in Gaza, News Agency Says |url=https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-hamas-war-gaza-strip-conflict/card/talal-al-hindi-hamas-field-commander-is-killed-in-airstrike-q1s6hFYjjYIxHS7vuAJp |access-date=1 December 2023 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=2023-10-23}}{{cite news |title=Second Aid Convoy Arrives in Gaza Amid Growing Fears of a Widening Conflict |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/22/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news |access-date=1 December 2023 |work=New York Times |date=2023-10-22}}{{cite news |title=Hamas' Gaza leader reelected in internal vote |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/03/yahya-sinwar-re-elected-hamas-gaza-palestine-israel-safa.html |access-date=1 December 2023 |work=Al-Monitor |date=2021-03-10}}

The agency was launched on July 5, 2009, and headed by Yasser Abu-Hin, who previously directed Hamas-affiliated PalMedia.{{cite news |title=Terrorism and the media: Hamas gives priority and invests resources in rehabilitating, reinforcing and expanding its media empire, damaged during Operation Cast Lead. |url=https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/18248/ |access-date=5 October 2023 |publisher=Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center |date=2009-07-23}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Abdelal |first1=Wael |title=Hamas and the Media: Politics and strategy |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317267157 |page=148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nrVTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA148 |access-date=1 December 2023}}

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.{{Cite news|title=Facebook deletes Hamas-linked Safa news agency's page |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/facebook-deletes-hamas-linked-safa-news-agencys-page/ |access-date=2023-10-05 |publisher=Times of Israel|language=en-US}}{{Cite news |title=Facebook Closes Page of Hamas-affiliated Palestinian News Agency With 1.3 Million Followers |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2018-03-25/ty-article/.premium/facebook-closes-page-of-hamas-affiliated-palestinian-news-agency/0000017f-db5f-df9c-a17f-ff5fbfae0000 |access-date=2023-09-10}}