Israeli forces have raided the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah, situated in the occupied West Bank, and ordered the shutdown of the network’s operations in the region.
The crackdown is part of a broader move by Israeli authorities to restrict media freedom.
Reports revealed that heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers entered the building housing Al Jazeera’s bureau early on Sunday morning.
They handed over a 45-day closure order to the West Bank bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, accusing the network of “incitement to and support of terrorism.”
Al-Omari condemned the move, noting that the closure order is a targeted attempt to silence the network. He described the actions as an attack on press freedom, aimed at suppressing the truth.
During the raid, Al Jazeera’s Jivara Budeiri reported that Israeli forces used tear gas near the bureau and in al-Manara Square, a central area in Ramallah.
They also confiscated cameras and other equipment, raising concerns among Al Jazeera staff that the military might try to destroy the network’s archives stored in the office.
Speaking from Ramallah, Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim stated that the closure was expected given recent developments.
The Israeli government had previously discussed shutting down the network’s operations, especially following the ban on Al Jazeera reporting from inside Israel earlier in 2024.
The initial ban on reporting inside Israel came in May, following Israel’s prolonged and intense military campaign in Gaza, which has left the territory in ruins.
Al Jazeera journalists have since been unable to report from within Israel, as the closure order, initially set for 45 days, was extended.
The move to shut down the West Bank office has drawn widespread criticism. Al-Omari emphasized the broader implications of such actions, saying, “Targeting journalists this way always aims to erase the truth and prevent people from hearing the truth.”
The Government Media Office in Gaza decried the raid as a “deafening scandal,” calling on international media organizations and human rights groups to condemn what it described as a “blatant violation of press and media freedom.”
The Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustafa Barghouti, pointed out that Israel has no legal authority to close an office in Ramallah, which is under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
He argued that the closure order violates the PA’s right to regulate media within its territory, as Al Jazeera’s operating license was issued by the PA.
Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, accused Israel of waging a systematic campaign against journalists. He described the closure order as a “retaliatory measure against its professional role in exposing the occupation’s crimes against our people.”
The Israeli government has faced increasing criticism for its actions against journalists, particularly those covering events in Gaza.
Since the beginning of the conflict in October last year, Israeli forces have reportedly killed 173 journalists, according to figures from the Government Media Office. International journalists have also been barred from reporting independently from Gaza.
Among the victims are Al Jazeera’s Ismail al-Ghoul and Samer Abudaqa, who were killed while covering the conflict. Ismail Abu Omar, another Al Jazeera correspondent, was severely injured in an Israeli strike earlier this year.
These attacks are not unprecedented. In 2022, veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed by Israeli forces while reporting from Jenin in the West Bank. A year earlier, the Israeli military targeted and destroyed a tower housing Al Jazeera’s offices in Gaza.
In response to the earlier ban on reporting inside Israel, Al Jazeera issued a statement condemning the action as a “criminal act” that undermines fundamental rights to access information.
The network accused Israel of attempting to conceal its actions in Gaza and stated that its “direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats” would not deter Al Jazeera from its mission.
Sunday’s raid underscores the extent of Israeli control over the occupied West Bank, even in areas like Ramallah, which are officially under the Palestinian Authority’s jurisdiction.
The raid occurred just days after the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for an end to the Israeli occupation.
Rami Khouri, a fellow at the American University of Beirut, framed the raid as part of a broader Israeli strategy to suppress news about the situation in Palestine and the actions of the Israeli state.
However, he expressed confidence that the closure of Al Jazeera’s bureau would not succeed in silencing the truth, given the presence of many dedicated Palestinian and foreign journalists in the region.
Despite the closure order, Al Jazeera has vowed to continue its coverage, insisting that the actions against its journalists and offices will not deter it from reporting on the realities faced by Palestinians in the occupied territories.
