DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israeli troops raided the offices of satellite news network Al Jazeera in the Israeli-occupied West Bank early Sunday, ordering the bureau to close amid a wider Israeli campaign targeting the Qatari-funded broadcaster. It includes Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera ordered the office to close for 45 days, broadcasting Israeli troops live on its Arabic-language channel. This follows an extraordinary order issued in May Israeli police raid Al Jazeera’s broadcast station in East Jerusalemconfiscating there equipment, blocking its broadcasts in Israel and blocking its websites.
The move marks the first time a foreign news agency operating in Israel has been shut down. Al Jazeera, however, continues to operate in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories Palestinians hope for their future state.
Israeli forces did not immediately acknowledge the shutdown. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Al Jazeera condemned the move as it continued to broadcast live from Amman in neighboring Jordan.
Armed Israeli troops entered the office and told a reporter live that it would be closed, telling employees to leave immediately. The network later broadcast what appeared to be Israeli troops tearing down a banner from a balcony used by an Al Jazeera office. Al Jazeera has a picture of it Shireen Abu AghleIn May 2022 a Palestinian-American journalist was shot dead by Israeli forces.
“There is a court order to close Al Jazeera for 45 days,” an Israeli soldier told Al Jazeera’s local bureau chief Walid al-Omari in live footage. “I request you to take all cameras and leave the office at this time.”
Al-Omari later said Israeli troops began confiscating documents and equipment in the office as tear gas and gunfire were heard in the area.
The 1993 Oslo Accords granted the Palestinians limited autonomy in Gaza and parts of the occupied West Bank. While Israel occupies and controls large swaths of the West Bank, Ramallah remains under full Palestinian political and security control, making the Israeli attack on the Al Jazeera office particularly surprising.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned the Israeli attack and order.
“This arbitrary military decision is a new aggression against journalistic work and media institutions,” it said.
The Palestinian Authority administers parts of the West Bank. When Hamas seized power in 2007, its forces were driven out of Gaza, where it has no authority.
The Israel-Hamas war has been incessantly reported since the militants’ initial cross-border attack on October 7. And 24-hour coverage in the Gaza Strip amid an Israeli ground attack that killed and wounded its staff. It is unclear whether the Israeli military will also target Al Jazeera’s operations in Gaza.
Al Jazeera’s Arab wing frequently publishes verbatim video reports from Hamas and other regional militant groups, including an underground report on the war’s casualties.
That led to Israeli claims by officials up to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the network had “harmed Israel’s security and incited against its soldiers.” Al Jazeera has vehemently denied those claims, and its main sponsor, Qatar, is the main one Israel and Hamas negotiate a cease-fire.
The order to close Al Jazeera in Israel has been renewed several times, but it has yet to order the closure of its Ramallah offices.
The Israeli government has cracked down on individual reporters for decades since its founding in 1948, but widely allows a bustling media scene that includes foreign bureaus from around the world, even Arab countries. It also blocked foreign broadcasts of the Hezbollah-affiliated, Beirut-based Al Mayadeen news channel at the beginning of the war.
Criticism of Al Jazeera is not new. The U.S. government singled out broadcasters during the U.S. invasion of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and for airing videos of late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Covered or blocked by Al Jazeera Other Middle Eastern governments.
In particular, in 2013, Egyptian authorities raided a luxury hotel used by Al Jazeera as an operating base after the military took it over following mass protests against President Mohamed Morsi. Three Al Jazeera employees were sentenced to 10 years in prison, but were released in 2015 following widespread international criticism.
The Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They kidnapped another 250 people and held another 100 hostages. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians.
The closure of Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office and tensions continue to rise over a possible expansion of the war into Lebanon, where electronic devices may have exploded last week. Israel’s Sabotage Campaign Targets Shiite Militants Hezbollah.
The explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday killed at least 37 people – including two children – and injured around 3,000.
