Israel raids and shuts down Al Jazeera’s bureau in Ramallah in the West Bank

[Pelican Press 0]

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******* raids and shuts down Al Jazeera’s bureau in Ramallah in the West Bank

DUBAI, ******* ***** Emirates (AP) — ******** troops raided the offices of the satellite news network Al Jazeera in the ********-occupied West Bank early Sunday, ordering the bureau to shut down amid a widening campaign by ******* targeting the Qatar-funded broadcaster as it covers

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Al Jazeera aired footage of ******** troops live on its Arabic-language channel ordering the office to be shut for 45 days. It follows an

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that saw ******** police raid Al Jazeera’s broadcast position in East Jerusalem, seizing equipment there, preventing its broadcasts in ******* and blocking its websites.

The move marked the first time ******* has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country. However, Al Jazeera has continued operating in the ********-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, territories that the Palestinians hope to have for their future state.

******* acknowledges raid on Al Jazeera

The ******** military acknowledged conducting the raid 12 hours later, alleging without providing evidence that the newsroom was “being used to incite *******, to support ********** activities and that the channel’s broadcasts endanger … security and public order.”

Al Jazeera denounced *******’s “unfounded accusations” as it continued broadcasting live from Amman, Jordan, even as ******** troops welded shut its office doors in Ramallah and confiscated its equipment.

“Al Jazeera will not be intimidated or deterred by efforts to silence its coverage,” it said.

Armed ******** troops entered the office and told a reporter live on air that it would be shut down, saying that staff needed to leave immediately. The network later aired what appeared to be ******* troops tearing down a banner on a balcony used by the Al Jazeera office. Al Jazeera said it bore an image of

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, a ************-********* journalist shot ***** by ******** forces in May 2022.

Al Jazeera’s local bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, later told the AP that the ******** military cited laws dating back to the British Mandate of Palestine to support its closure order.

The Palestinians secured limited self-rule in Gaza and parts of the occupied West Bank through the 1993 Oslo agreements. While ******* occupies and controls vast areas of the West Bank, Ramallah is under full ************ political and security control, making the ******** raid on the Al Jazeera office that much more surprising.

Journalists criticize raid and closure order

The ************ Journalists Syndicate denounced the ******** raid and closure order.

“This arbitrary military decision is a new aggression against journalistic work and media outlets,” it said.

The ************ Authority administers parts of the West Bank. Its forces were driven from Gaza when ****** seized power in 2007, and it has no power there. The Authority’s Foreign Ministry condemned the raid.

******** Communication Minister Shlomo Karhi later described the raid as affecting “the mouthpiece of ****** and Hezbollah,” the Shiite militia in Lebanon that ******* targeted with strikes Sunday after

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from the militants.

“We will continue to ****** the ****** channels and ensure the safety of our heroic fighters,” Karhi posted on X. Neither he nor the ******** military addressed what legal authority ******* had to order the bureau closed.

*******’s Foreign Press Association said it was “deeply troubled by this escalation, which threatens press freedom, and urges the ******** government to reconsider these actions.”

“Restricting foreign reporters and closing news channels, signals a shift away from democratic values,” it said.

The *******-****** war has been extensively covered by Al Jazeera

The network has reported on the ********-****** war nonstop since the militants’ initial cross-border ******* on Oct. 7. Al Jazeera has maintained 24-hour coverage in the Gaza Strip amid *******’s grinding ground offensive that has ******* and wounded members of its staff.

It remained unclear whether the ******** military would target Al Jazeera’s operation in Gaza as well.

While including on-the-ground reporting of the war’s casualties, Al Jazeera’s Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from ****** and other regional militant groups.

That has led to ******** claims by officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the network has “harmed *******’s security and incited against soldiers.” Those claims have been vehemently denied by Al Jazeera, whose main funder, Qatar, has been key in

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to reach a cease-***** to end the war.

An order closing Al Jazeera in ******* has been repeatedly renewed in the time since, but it hadn’t as of yet ordered the Ramallah offices closed.

The ******** government has taken action against individual reporters over the decades since its founding in 1948, but broadly allows for a media scene that includes foreign bureaus from around the world, even from ***** nations. It also blocked the foreign broadcasts of the Hezbollah-affiliated, Beirut-based Al Mayadeen news channel at the start of the war.

Al Jazeera has faced controversy in past

Criticism of Al Jazeera isn’t new. Washington singled out the broadcaster during the U.S. occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and for airing videos of the late al-Qaida chief ****** bin Laden.

Al Jazeera has been closed or blocked by

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Most notably in 2013, Egyptian authorities raided a luxury hotel used by Al Jazeera as an operating base after the military takeover that followed mass protests against President Mohammed Morsi. Three Al Jazeera staff members received 10-year prison sentences, but were released in 2015 following widespread international criticism.

The *******-****** war began when ******-led fighters ******* about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in an Oct. 7 ******* on southern *******. They abducted another 250 people and are still holding around 100 hostages. *******’s campaign in Gaza has ******* at least 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between fighters and civilians.

The closure of Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office also comes as tensions continue to rise over a possible expansion of the war to Lebanon, where electronic devices exploded last week in a likely sabotage campaign by ******* targeting the Shiite militia Hezbollah.

The explosions Tuesday and Wednesday ******* at least 37 people — including two children — and wounded around 3,000 others.

___

Natalie Melzer contributed to this report from Nahariya, *******.

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