Israeli forces attack Al-Jazeera office, order closure
Last Updated on September 23, 2024 6:44 am
The Israeli army raided Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. At the same time, the office has been ordered to be closed for the next 45 days.
On Sunday morning (September 22), masked Israeli soldiers with heavy weapons entered Al Jazeera’s offices and handed over the closure order to West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari. However, it did not say anything about the reason for the closure of the office.
Al Jazeera Arabic broadcast live, an Israeli soldier told Al Omri that there was a court order to close the office for 45 days.
The soldier also said, “Take all the cameras and leave here right now.”
Last May, the Israeli government banned the broadcasting of Al Jazeera inside Israel. After that, the raid on the office took place on Sunday.
Nadi Ibrahim, an Al Jazeera journalist from the West Bank, said by telephone that the order not to report inside Israel and to close the office is not surprising.
Ibrahim said, we were already threatened to close the bureau office. We heard it was the decision of the Israeli government. But it was not expected to happen today.
Meanwhile, media rights groups have condemned the Israeli government’s crackdown and attacks on Palestinian reporters amid the Gaza war.
173 journalists have been killed since the Israeli attack on Gaza started in October last year. The official media office of Gaza reported this information.
Sources: Guardian, Al Jazeera