Israeli troops attack Al Jazeera's office in the West Bank

DURBAN — Al Jazeera media reported that Israeli forces stormed its office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and issued a 45-day closure order.

The Israeli government announced last week that it would withdraw press accreditation from Al Jazeera journalists in the country, four months after banning the channel from broadcasting in Israel.

“There is a court ruling that calls for the closure of Al Jazeera for 45 days,” an Israeli soldier told Al Jazeera's West Bank bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, the broadcaster reported, citing the live conversation.

CLOSE Photos of murdered Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh hang on the building that houses the television station's office in the occupied West Bank on September 22, 2024. AFP photo

“I ask you to take all cameras and leave the office immediately,” the soldier said, according to the footage, which shows heavily armed and masked troops entering the office.

The broadcaster said the soldiers did not give a reason for the closure order.

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has been in a long-running dispute with Al Jazeera, which has escalated since the start of the Gaza war following attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7.

The Israeli military has repeatedly accused journalists from the Qatari network of being “terrorist agents” in the Gaza Strip linked to Hamas or its ally, Islamic Jihad.

Al Jazeera denies Israel's allegations and claims that Israel systematically targets its employees in the Gaza Strip.

The media office of the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip condemned Sunday's raid, calling it a “serious scandal and a blatant violation of press freedom” in a statement.

“No surprise”

At the beginning of April, the Israeli parliament passed a law that allows the banning of foreign media broadcasts that are considered to be a threat to state security.

Based on this law, the Israeli government on May 5 banned Al Jazeera from broadcasting from Israel and closed its offices for a renewable period of 45 days. This period was extended for the fourth time last week by a court in Tel Aviv.

The interruption had no impact on broadcasts from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, from where Al Jazeera continued to cover Israel's war against Palestinian militants.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim said the closure of the broadcaster's West Bank office “came as no surprise” after previously banning reporting from Israel.

“We have heard that Israeli officials are threatening to close the office,” she told the network.

“But we [had] I didn't expect it to happen today.”

Bureau chief Omari said that “the aim of these attacks on journalists is always to erase the truth and prevent people from knowing the truth.”

In May, the broadcaster condemned the broadcasting ban imposed on it because of its coverage of the Gaza war as “criminal”.

“We condemn and denounce this criminal act by Israel, which violates the human right to access information,” the broadcaster said in a statement.