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September 22, 2024 – Palestine/Israel –
Heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers launched a pre-dawn raid on Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. The raid was broadcast live, showing troops forcibly entering the bureau and handing a 45‑day closure order to bureau chief Walid al‑Omari, citing alleged “incitement to and support of terrorism”.
Journalists were instructed to evacuate with only personal belongings; cameras, documents, and archives were confiscated. Tear gas was reportedly deployed, and soldiers dismantled a poster of the late Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
Al Jazeera condemned the raid as a “criminal act” and a direct assault on press freedom, asserting its commitment to continue reporting despite the shutdown. Walid al‑Omari warned that the action aimed to “erase the truth and prevent people from hearing the truth”.
The Israeli Communications Minister, Shlomo Karhi, defended the closure, describing Al Jazeera as “the mouthpiece” of Hamas and Hezbollah and asserting the broadcast was a “security threat”.
Notably, Ramallah falls under Area A—officially under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction according to the Oslo Accords—but Israeli forces have repeatedly conducted operations there, including this raid.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate strongly denounced the shutdown, calling it a flagrant violation of international law and reaffirming solidarity with the journalists impacted.
This action reflects a broader pattern of increased press restrictions amid the Gaza war’s escalation (since October 2023), including the killings of Al Jazeera correspondents like Shireen Abu Akleh and Samer Abudaqa. The closure order, though temporary, is expected to be renewed, mirroring a previous ban on Al Jazeera operations in Israel in May 2024.
Reference –
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/22/al-jazeera-office-west-bank-raid-israeli-forces-media
