(CNN) -- Palestinian journalists are finding reporting increasingly difficult in the face of the growing abuse toward them by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank and Gaza, according to a report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch.
The report, "No News is Good News: Abuses Against Journalists by Palestinian Security Forces," criticizes Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank and Hamas security forces in Gaza, saying they are abusing local journalists and limiting press freedom in the Palestinian territories.
The 35-page report focuses on seven incidents in the West Bank and two in Gaza, saying they are "cases in which security forces tortured, beat, and arbitrarily detained journalists, confiscated their equipment and barred them from leaving the West Bank and Gaza."
Human Rights Watch cites a report issued by the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedom that says there was a 45% increase in the number of physical attacks, arrests, confiscation of equipment and limitation of movement in the year 2010.
"We respect the Human Rights Watch report and other human rights organizations in what they do on the ground, and we have the readiness to investigate each case," said Maj. Gen. Adnan Dmeiri, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority security services. But, he said, "Why don't they consult us and ask us ... before publishing these reports?"
He said the security services will investigate and "bring people to justice. The PA has no agenda to violate the rights of human beings and especially the rights of the journalists. We trust our justice system and the freedom of journalists is a priority of all things."
Most of the abuses against journalists are connected to the rift between Fatah, which controls the West Bank's Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, which controls Gaza, according to the report. Pro-Hamas journalists are targeted by the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank and pro-Fatah journalists are targeted by the Hamas security in Gaza.
The report stresses that the West Bank security forces have "virtual impunity for serious human rights violations" and states that the "utter failure of the (Palestinian Authority) leadership to address the prevailing culture of impunity for such abuses suggests that they reflect government policy."
"We don't accept the comparison between us and the militia in Gaza," Dmeiri said. He said his organization has no political agenda and "we don't hold and detain people on their background. We detain people if they have criminal or security threats or matters that threaten the internal security."
Large sums are donated to the Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank by the United States and the European Union. Human Rights Watch calls on the donor countries to condition their support to those security services by making sure that Palestinian Authority officials investigate and punish security personnel for their abuses.
Attacks on International journalists in Gaza also have increased in the past couple of months. In March 2011, as journalists were covering a demonstration in Gaza calling for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, the offices of Reuters, CNN and NHK were raided by Hamas security forces.
Efforts to get a response from Hamas officials were not immediately successful.
The Tel Aviv-based Foreign Press Association released a statement expressing its "grave concern" that Hamas security forces "brutally attacked photographers and cameramen, beating them, breaking equipment and confiscating photos and video footage."
The organization called the developments the latest in a "string of chilling attacks on reporters in Gaza."
The United States and European Union have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Human Rights Watch describes itself on its website as "one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights."
CNN's Kareem Khadder contributed to this report.
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