An Al Jazeera TV office located in the West Bank’s Ramallah city has been raided by members of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), according to the Qatari-based channel.
The channel aired live footage of the Israeli troops storming the office and handing over a military order to close it for 45 days.
In a statement, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate condemned the move, saying “this arbitrary military decision is considered a new violation against journalistic and media works, which has been exposing the occupation’s crimes against the Palestinian people.”
This move is the latest Israeli action against Al Jazeera. Last week, Israel’s government announced it was revoking the press credentials of Al Jazeera journalists in the country.
In May, Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office after the government decided to shut down the TV station’s local operations and banned in Israel, saying it threatened national security by operating as a terrorists mouthpiece, an accusation Al Jazzera has denied.
On Saturday night, the armed soldiers entered the building during a live broadcast, with viewers watching as troops handed a closure order to the network’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari, who read it out live on air.
“There is a court ruling for closing down Al Jazeera for 45 days,” an Israeli soldier told Mr al-Omari, the network reported, citing the conversation which was broadcast live.
“I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment,” the soldier said.
Posting about the raid on X, Al Jazeera journalist Mohammad Alsaafin shared footage which he said showed Israeli troops pulling down a poster of Shireen Abu Aqla – an Al Jazeera reporter who was killed while covering a raid by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
Reuters