A Palestinian freelance photographer who was shot by Israeli soldiers while covering a demonstration in the occupied West Bank has drawn international attention, with journalists voicing solidarity by posting photos of themselves wearing eye patches or covering their eyes. Muath Amarneh, 35, is being treated in Israel’s Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem since he was struck in the left eye on Friday after Israeli occupation forces used live ammunition to disperse Palestinian protestors in the village of Surif, close to Hebron in the occupied southern West Bank. An online campaign using hashtags that include “MuathEye”, “EyeofTruth” and “MuathAmarneh” was launched and trending following a video and photos of Amarneh being carried away with blood flowing from his left eye. The demonstrators were protesting what they say were confiscations of village land by the Israeli soldiers. Relatives of the photojournalist say they were informed by the doctors at Hadassah Medical Centre that his left eye could not be saved and needed to be removed as a result of the injury. Despite Amarneh’s colleagues confirming that he was targeted by Israeli forces, Israeli occupation forces claim he wasn’t targeted and they were only using “nonlethal crowd-dispersal weapons” at the protest. The 35-year-old told AFP news agency yesterday that he was stood to the side wearing a flak jacket with clear press markings and a helmet. He said: “Suddenly I felt something hit my eye, I thought it was a rubber bullet or a stone. I put my hand to my eye and found nothing, I couldn’t see and my eye was completely gone.” Prominent journalists and Palestinian activists uploaded pictures of themselves with one eye covered in support of Amarneh and encouraged others to do the same to raise awareness of Israeli violations against press freedoms especially while covering anti-occupation protests. Deck Moore, deputy foreign editor at the National, posted on Twitter: “The eyes of truth will never be blinded. Today, dozens of Palestinian journalists protested the shooting of Muath Amarneh,who lost his eye.” “He was wearing press markings. 60 have been hit this year. #MuathEye #عين_معاذ” Senior Palestine Liberation Organisation official Hanan Ashrawi wrote: “We will continue to bear witness. In solidarity & affection.” Press freedom is seriously restricted in the occupied territories, with Palestine 134th out of 180 on the 2018 World Press Freedom index.