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. It follows a The order was issued in May It saw Israeli police raid Al Jazeera’s broadcast station in East Jerusalem, seizing its 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.
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, Jordan.
Armed Israeli troops entered the office and told the live reporter that it would be closed, telling staff 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 said Israeli troops began confiscating documents and equipment from the bureau as tear gas and gunshots were heard in the area. Speaking to the AP later, al-Omari said the Israeli military cited laws from before the British Mandate of Palestine to support its closure order.
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.
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Garhi described the raid as affecting “the mouthpiece of Hamas and Hezbollah,” the Shiite militias in Lebanon that have been targeted by Israel since Sunday. Transboundary fire From the fighters.
“We will continue to fight enemy channels and ensure the safety of our valiant fighters,” Garhi posted on X. He did not specify which authority Israel cited to order the bureau’s closure.
The New York-based group to protect journalists said it was “deeply concerned” by the Israeli attack.
“Journalists must be protected and allowed to work freely,” it said.
The Israel-Hamas war has been in the news non-stop since the militants’ initial cross-border attack on October 7. Al Jazeera maintains 24-hour coverage in Gaza amid Israeli ground offensive. employees.
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.
This led to Israeli claims by officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the network had “harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers”. Al Jazeera has vehemently denied those claims, and its main sponsor, Qatar, is the main one Negotiations between Israel and Hamas A ceasefire must be reached to end the war.
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 media coverage 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. Washington singled out the broadcaster after it toppled dictator Saddam Hussein during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and for airing videos of late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Covered or blocked by Al Jazeera Other governments in the Middle East.
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.
With the closure of Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office and the possibility of the war spreading to Lebanon continuing to grow, electronic devices exploded last week in Israel’s sabotage campaign targeting the Shiite militia Hezbollah.
The explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday killed at least 37 people – including two children – and injured around 3,000.
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Natalie Melzer contributed to this report from Nahariya, Israel.
