Israeli soldiers raided the office of news organization Al Jazeera in the Israeli-occupied West Bank early Sunday and ordered those present there to stop working immediately. Al Jazeera broadcast live footage on its Arabic language channel of Israeli soldiers ordering the office to remain closed for 45 days. Al Jazeera is broadcasting the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The soldiers also asked the journalists working in the office to immediately leave the office with all cameras.
Israel had earlier raided Al Jazeera’s office in East Jerusalem, confiscated its equipment, banned its broadcasts in Israel and blocked its websites. The Israeli military has yet to comment on the move. Al Jazeera has criticised the move and is broadcasting from Amman in neighbouring Jordan.
Al Jazeera has broadcast continuous ground reporting on the effects of Israel’s campaign since the war began on October 7. The Israeli military has repeatedly accused the Qatar-based network’s journalists of being linked to Hamas or its ally Islamic Jihad. Al Jazeera has strongly denied Israel’s allegations and says Israel systematically targets its staff in the Gaza Strip.
Four Al Jazeera journalists have been killed and the network’s office in Gaza has been bombed since the war in Gaza began. The broadcaster said soldiers gave no reason for the closure order on Sunday. “There is a court order to close Al Jazeera for 45 days,” an Israeli soldier told Al Jazeera’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari in a conversation broadcast live on the network. “I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office immediately,” the soldier said, according to the footage.
According to Al Jazeera, Omari said the order accused the network of promoting and supporting terrorism. “The aim of targeting journalists in this way is always to erase the truth and prevent people from hearing the truth,” Omari said. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned Sunday’s operation as a gross violation of press freedom. Mohammad Abu al-Rab, director of the Palestinian Authority’s government media office, said the closure of the Al Jazeera office confirms the (Israeli) occupation’s efforts to impede the media’s work in reporting the occupation’s violations against the Palestinian people.