A leading rights group is calling on Gaza's Hamas rulers to cancel the trial of a Palestinian journalist who exposed government corruption.
Amnesty International said Monday the prosecution of Hajar Harb was "an outrageous assault on media freedom."
A 2016 report by Harb highlighted misconduct at the Hamas-run Health Ministry, where healthy people purportedly paid doctors to help them get around the Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip by issuing referrals to hospitals abroad.
A year later, a Hamas court sentenced Harb in absentia to six months in prison and a fine. She appealed the ruling and a hearing was set to be held on Tuesday.
Rights groups often charge that fair litigation is not guaranteed in Hamas' judiciary system. Hamas wrested control of Gaza from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority in 2007.
