The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed the Al Jazeera bureau office in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, September 22, ordering the news network to close down the office and suspend its operations for 45 days. The incident occurred as part of a large-scale Israeli crackdown on the West Bank, and amid the worst attacks on media freedom and Palestinian journalists in particular.
The raid, which was broadcasted live, was carried out by masked, heavily armed Israeli soldiers, who asked the staff present at the office then to evacuate taking their personal belongings only. They handed over the order, which accuses the news network of incitement and supporting “terrorism”, to the chief of Al Jazeera Bureau in the West Bank Walid al-Omari, who said there is a possibility for the order to be renewed automatically.
IOF soldiers reportedly threw tear gas canisters in the vicinity of Al Jazeera Bureau in Ramallah during the raid and tore down a banner of late Palestinian-American journalist of Al Jazeera Shireen Abu Akleh, who was assassinated by the IOF, while covering a raid in Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank in May 2022.
Attacks on journalists have skyrocketed in the last year amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The Palestinian government media office in Gaza said on September 16, that the death toll of Palestinian journalists slain by Israel has risen to 173, since October 7, after Palestinian journalist Abdullah Shakshak, who worked with several Arab media outlets, was killed in Rafah in southern Gaza. Palestinian journalists make up the majority of all journalists from across the globe killed in the line of duty.
Palestinian journalists have been also subjected to detention and torture by IOF. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Monday, September 23, that it has documented the arrest of 54 journalists in the Palestinian territories including the West Bank, Gaza and in the city of Jerusalem, since October 7.
CPJ also denounced the raid of Al Jazeera Bureau on Sunday. CPJ’s program director, Carlos Martínez de la Serna said in a statement: “CPJ is deeply alarmed by Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera’s office in the occupied West Bank, just months after it shuttered Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel after deeming it a threat to national security.”
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international non-governmental organization concerned with press freedom, also condemned the raid on Sunday in a post on its platform on X, “Once again, RSF denounces Israel’s relentless assault on Al Jazeera.”
During a press conference in Berlin, German Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Christian Wagner criticized the Israeli repressive action against Al Jazeera saying: “The closure of Al Jazeera’s office is certainly a wrong signal from the Israeli authorities.” “Especially in times of conflict and crisis, it is extremely important that a diverse and free media can convey a picture of the situation on the ground. Especially in these times, it is even more important that free media and free reporting must be guaranteed, and must be particularly protected,” Wagner added.
The closure of Al Jazeera Bureau in the West Bank, came four months after its office in Israel was closed as per a law passed by the Israeli Knesset. The law allows the Israeli government to suspend the operation of any foreign media outlet that poses a “threat to the state” for 45 days at a time.
