Palestine: Israeli forces extend closure of Al Jazeera office in the occupied West Bank
Shutdown of bureau lengthened again by court order.
Israeli forces have raided the closed Al Jazeera's bureau in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and lengthened its closure order by another 60 days.
The office was shut down during a live broadcast on 22 September 2024 through a court order that banned it from operating for 45 days. According to a statement issued by the Israeli military, the order followed an intelligence assessment that determined that the offices were allegedly used “to incite terror, to support terrorist activities”.
Since then the order has been extended periodically, most recently on 4 August.
According to Al Jazeera and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (CK) the army entered the building in the centre of Ramallah just after midnight and posted a notice at the entrance to the office saying it will continue to be closed for another 60 days.
The NUJ joins the PJS and IFJ in expresses its solidarity with Al Jazeera’s journalists.
The move is the latest in a long list of Israeli government’s actions targeting Al Jazeera. On 12 September, the government announced the revocation of the press credentials of Al Jazeera’s journalists, following the ban on the channel operating in Israel imposed on 5 May. This was strongly condemned by the International Federation of Journalists and the PJS.
Meanwhile the PJS has opened its third centre for journalists, with help from the IFJ. The Media Solidarity Centre began operating at the Rashad Al-Shawa Cultural Center Square in Gaza City on 5 August.