Key Points
- Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera says Israeli forces have issued their West Bank office with a 45-day closure notice.
- Earlier this year, the Israeli government banned Al Jazeera from broadcasting from Israel, closing its offices there.
- Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim said the network’s West Bank office closure “comes as no surprise”.
“There is a court ruling for closing down Al Jazeera for 45 days,” an Israeli soldier told Al Jazeera’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari, the network reported, citing the conversation which was broadcast live.
A screenshot from Al Jazeera English broadcasting the moment Israeli soldiers raided its Ramallah office in the West Bank. Credit: Supplied/SBS News
“I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment,” the soldier said, according to the footage, which showed heavily armed and masked troops entering the office.
Israel’s army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Israeli military has repeatedly accused journalists from the Qatari network of being “terrorist agents” in Gaza affiliated with Hamas or its ally, Islamic Jihad.
The Israeli parliament passed a law in early April allowing the banning of foreign media broadcasts deemed harmful to state security.
The shutdown had not affected broadcasts from the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, from which Al Jazeera was still covering Israel’s war with Palestinian militants.
“But we (had) not been expecting it to happen today.”
“We condemn and denounce this criminal act by Israel that violates the human right to access information,” the channel said in a statement.