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Scene. Screenshot published by IMEMC News

A military vehicle moves in a street outside the building where the Al Jazeera office is located, in Ramallah on Sunday. Credit: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters. Published by Haaretz
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by IMEMC News
Sep 22, 2024

Early on Sunday morning, Israeli soldiers shut down the Al-Jazeera network office in Ramallah, in the central occupied West Bank, under a military order. This action was taken despite the office being within the “security and civil control” of the Palestinian Authority.

Al-Jazeera reported that the Israeli army stormed the office after surrounding it and breaking its back gate.

It stated that the soldiers ordered everyone to leave and closed it down for 45 days under a military order.

The network also said that “Israeli soldiers have stormed Al-Jazeera’s office in Ramallah and issued an order for the Doha-based news network to cease operations. This action is part of a broader Israeli crackdown on media freedom”.

The report added that heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers forcefully invaded the building housing Al Jazeera’s bureau early on Sunday. They handed a 45-day closure order to the network’s West Bank bureau chief, Walid al-Omari.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Guevara Al-Budeiri mentioned that soldiers fired tear gas near the Al-Jazeera bureau and al-Manara Square in central Ramallah. She expressed concern that the military might attempt to destroy Al Jazeera’s archives in the office.

Al-Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim noted that the West Bank raid and the closure order were “no surprise” given the earlier ban on reporting from inside Israel.

During the invasion, the soldiers removed the memorial poster of slain journalist, Shirin Abu Akleh.

Tony Abu Akleh, Shirin’s brother said in a social media post: “During the recent Israeli military raid on the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah, in a barbaric act, they removed the #shireenabuakleh memorial poster, further attempting to erase her legacy. These actions are not just an affront to Shireen’s memory but a threat to the freedom of expression.”

He added that “since Shirin was killed by an Israeli soldier in 2022, her funeral was attacked, and her memorial in Jenin has been bulldozed multiple times. The violence against journalists continues, with Al Jazeera reporters targeted and their Jerusalem office closed months ago, and now the Ramallah bureau as well. These actions are an assault on press freedom. We will continue to demand justice and accountability. Shireen’s legacy will endure, and the truth will not be forgotten.”

Since Shireen was killed by an Israeli soldier in 2022, her funeral was attacked, and her memorial in Jenin has been bulldozed multiple times. The violence against journalists continues, with Al Jazeera reporters targeted and their Jerusalem office closed months ago and now Ramallah bureau as well. These actions are an assault on press freedom.

Previously, Al Jazeera’s office director, Walid al-Omari, mentioned that Israeli forces were besieging the building housing the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah and attempting to storm it after many Israeli military vehicles invaded Ramallah from its northern entrance.

Mo’tasem Saqf Al-Hait, a reporter with “Quds News Network” in Ramallah, said that the soldiers invaded Al-Manara Square in central Ramallah before storming the Al-Jazeera office and shutting it down.

The closure of the Al-Jazeera office and the ban on its operations came after the Israeli “Communications Regulatory Authority” announced on Sunday the extension of the ban on the operations of the Qatari Al Jazeera channel in the occupied territories for another 45 days after the Israeli Ministerial Cabinet agreed that the channel’s broadcast “posed a security threat”.

Last week, a court in Tel Aviv upheld a preliminary 35-day ban on Al Jazeera’s operations, imposed by the government for what it called “national security considerations,” which ended on Saturday.

Following an appeal by Al-Jazeera, the Israeli Supreme Court responded, describing the action against Al-Jazeera as “unprecedented”.

The court gave the Israeli government until August 8 to present arguments regarding “why the law preventing foreign broadcasting entities from harming national security” should be deemed valid in this case.

Court documents showed that Al-Jazeera’s defense team informed the court that the news agency “does not incite violence or terrorism,” and that the ban is disproportionate.

In mid-June, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the banning of Al Jazeera’s broadcast in the West Bank, following the decision to block it in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Israeli Army Radio said, “After blocking Al-Jazeera’s broadcast in Israel, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed the Chief of Staff to also ban the channel’s broadcast in the West Bank”.

It is noteworthy that the Israeli government decided on May 5 to block Al-Jazeera and prevent its broadcast in the occupied territories, and to close its offices.

The decision followed the Knesset’s approval in April of a law that allows the Prime Minister and the Minister of Communications to ban foreign media outlets, citing concerns that they “harm Israel’s security.”

This legislation, referred to by the media as the “Al Jazeera Law,” was primarily aimed at preventing the broadcast of the Qatari channel, though it applies to all foreign media outlets.

Officials and spokespersons within the Israeli government have repeatedly launched sharp attacks on Al-Jazeera, criticizing its extensive coverage of the ongoing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

Al-Jazeera condemned the Israeli occupation government’s decision to close its offices, describing it as a move “steeped in misinformation and slander.”

The network affirmed its right to continue providing services to the global audience, as guaranteed by international charters.

In its report, Al-Jazeera said: “Media rights groups have slammed the Israeli government for its restrictions and attacks on journalists, particularly Palestinian reporters on the ground in Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing war on the besieged enclave.”

“Since the start of the war in October last year, Israeli forces have killed 173 journalists, according to a tally from the Government Media Office. International journalists have not been allowed to report independently from Gaza. Al Jazeera’s Ismail al-Ghoul and Samer Abudaqa are among the journalists killed. Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail Abu Omar was also severely injured in an Israeli strike in February.”
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Israel Raids and Shuts Down Al Jazeera's Bureau in West Bank While Live on Air

Israeli soldiers raided the Ramallah office live on air, ordering it to close for the next 45 days. Hamas issued a statement of solidarity with Al Jazeera, condemning the closure as an attempt to 'cover up the resistance's performance in Gaza'

by The Associated Press, Jonathan Lis, Reuters, and Allison Kaplan Sommer for Haaretz

Sep 22, 2024

Israeli troops raided the offices of the satellite news network Al Jazeera in the West Bank early Sunday, ordering the bureau to shut down, amid a widening campaign by Israel targeting the Qatar-funded broadcaster as it covers the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza .

Al Jazeera aired footage of Israeli troops live on its Arabic-language channel ordering the office to be shut for 45 days. It follows an order issued in May that saw Israeli police raid Al Jazeera's broadcast position in Jerusalem, seizing equipment there, preventing its broadcasts in Israel and blocking its websites.

The move marked the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country. However, Al Jazeera has continued operating in the West Bank and in Gaza.

The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Al Jazeera denounced the move as it continued broadcasting live from Amman in neighboring Jordan.

Israeli troops entered the office and told a reporter live on air it would be shut down, saying that staff needed to leave immediately. The network later aired what appeared to be Israeli troops tearing down a banner on a balcony used by the Al Jazeera office. Al Jazeera said it bore an image of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist shot dead by Israeli forces in May 2022.

"There is a court ruling for closing down Al Jazeera for 45 days," an Israeli soldier told Al Jazeera's local bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, in the live footage. "I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment."

Al-Omari later said that Israeli troops began confiscating documents and equipment in the bureau, as tear gas and gunshots could be seen and heard in the area.

Israeli Communication Minister Shlomo Karhi later described the raid as affecting "the mouthpiece of Hamas and Hezbollah".

"We will continue to fight the enemy channels and ensure the safety of our heroic fighters," Karhi wrote on the social media platform X. He did not address what authority Israel cited to order the bureau closed.

Al Jazeera condemned the "criminal act" committed by Israeli forces, and refuted the allegations made against it by Israel.

Hamas political bureau representative Izzat al-Rish said Hamas "stands in solidarity with Al-Jazeera and condemn the decision to close it," adding that its closure is an attempt to cover up the resistance's performance in Gaza and Hezbollah's response and is the culmination of the declared war against journalists with the aim of concealing the truth."

The board of the Foreign Press Association in Israel and the Palestinian Territories said it is "deeply troubled by this escalation, which threatens press freedom, and urges the Israeli government to reconsider these actions."

"Restricting foreign reporters and closing news channels, signals a shift away from democratic values," the board said in a statement.

At the end of July, the Tel Aviv District Court approved, at the state's request, the extension of the ban on Al-Jazeera's broadcasts from Israel. The injunction was issued based on a law passed by the Knesset in May. Judge Haggai Brenner noted at the time that defense officials believe that the content presented by Al-Jazeera constitutes a concrete danger to state security.

In May, the Knesset approved a proposed bill in a final round of voting that allows the cessation of Al-Jazeera's broadcasts from Israel. Seventy-one lawmakers supported the law, with 10 opposing it.

The law authorizes the communications minister to halt the station's broadcasts by Israeli content providers, to limit access to the channel's website, to close its offices in Israel and confiscate equipment used by its employees, other than cellphones and computers. The cessation of broadcasts is contingent on the approval of the prime minister and the cabinet, and can be carried out only if the prime minister is convinced that broadcast content poses a concrete threat to state security.

Reuters contributed to this report.
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via Twitter (X)

Hamdah Salhut
@hamdahsalhut
RAMALLAH: Palestine Bureau Chief Walid Omary was live on air when the Israeli army raided the office.

Back in May, Israel banned Al Jazeera from reporting within the country. Israeli forces raided our office in Occupied East Jerusalem, and confiscated our equipment.
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@AJEnglish
Sep 22

"The fact that the Israeli army can just come in and close the offices, it shows you how undemocratic Israel is."

Al Jazeera talks to Mustafa Barghouti, Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) chief, about the closure of its Ramallah bureau by armed Israeli forces.