Israeli forces raided and shuttered the West Bank bureau of news organization Al Jazeera, accusing the newsroom of “supporting terrorism” in an order that compelled the office to close for 45 days.
The raid of Al Jazeera was captured on video by the camera people of the Qatar-funded broadcaster. In the clip, bureau chief Walid al-Omari reads the order aloud and questions soldiers. He continues reporting on the incident after being forced outside until a soldier approaches and takes away his microphone.
The raid follows a similar one on Al Jazeera’s East Jerusalem base of operations in May. The broadcaster railed against the Ramallah raid this week, noting that their Ramallah studio is well within territory that is meant to be under the authority of the Palestinian Liberation Organization under the Oslo Accords.
The network also shared video they claim shows Israeli soldiers tearing down a large photos of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian journalist who was killed by Israeli forces in 2022 while covering a refugee camp in the West Bank. The photos are displayed prominently on the facade of the Ramallah bureau.
Following the May raid, Al Jazeera continued to broadcast news reports about the ongoing war in Gaza from both its Ramallah bureau and another location inside the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military told the Associated Press that the newsroom was “being used to incite terror, to support terrorist activities and that the channel’s broadcasts endanger … security and public order.” Al Jazeera shared in a statement that the government of Israel “clearly intend[s] to prevent the world from witnessing the reality of the situation in the occupied territories and the ongoing war on Gaza.”
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