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RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian security forces on Sunday night arrested a Palestinian journalist after raiding his home in the village of Kafr Ein north of Ramallah, a national union said.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said in a statement that Aysar Barghouthi, a reporter for local TV station Watan, was taken into custody in the raid.

The Union denounced the detention of Barghouthi, describing it as a violation of freedom of the press, and demanding the PA release him immediately.

A 2013 report by Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms counted 78 violations of freedom of speech by Palestinian authorities, primarily in the Gaza Strip.

While officials have said that the situation has improved in the Gaza Strip since a unity deal with signed in April, critics have raised alarm that the PA has continued politically-motivated arrests and detentions against activists and journalists at the same pace as before.

The 2013 report also found 151 violations of Palestinian freedom of speech by Israeli authorities, which still constitute the biggest threat to Palestinian journalists.