Dubai: Israeli troops raided the offices of satellite news network Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank early Sunday, ordering the office closed amid an escalating Israeli campaign against the Qatari-funded broadcaster as it covers the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera broadcast live footage of Israeli troops on its Arabic-language channel, ordering the office to close for 45 days. This follows an extraordinary order issued in May in which Israeli police raided Al Jazeera’s broadcasting position in East Jerusalem, confiscating equipment, preventing its broadcasts in Israel and blocking its websites.
This is the first time Israel has shut down a foreign media outlet operating in the country. However, Al Jazeera has continued to operate in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories that Palestinians hope to secure for their future state.
Israeli forces did not immediately acknowledge the network’s closure. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Al Jazeera denounced the move while continuing to broadcast live from Amman in neighboring Jordan.
Israeli troops entered the office and told a reporter live that it would remain closed for 45 days, saying staff must leave immediately. The network then broadcast what appeared to be Israeli troops tearing down a banner on a balcony used by Al Jazeera’s office. Al Jazeera said it had an image of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist shot dead by Israeli forces in May 2022.
The network has reported on the war between Israel and Hamas non-stop since the militants’ initial cross-border attack on Oct. 7 and has maintained round-the-clock coverage in the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s devastating ground offensive that has killed and wounded its personnel.
While it includes on-the-ground reports from war victims, its Arab arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other regional militant groups.
This has led to complaints from Israeli officials, including the Prime Minister. Benjamin Netanyahu Al Jazeera has vehemently denied these claims, as its main financier, Qatar, has been instrumental in negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire to end the war.
The order to close Al Jazeera in Israel has been repeatedly renewed since then, but so far no order has been issued to close the Ramallah offices.
The war began when Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in an Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel. They kidnapped another 250 people and still hold about 100 hostages. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which makes no distinction between fighters and civilians.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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