Israel raids Al Jazeera's bureau in Ramallah, orders closure

Israeli forces have raided the offices of the satellite news network Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank early Sunday, ordering the bureau to shut down amid a widening campaign by Israel targeting the Qatari broadcaster as it covers Israel's brutal war in Gaza.

Al Jazeera aired footage of Israeli troops live on its Arabic-language channel ordering the office to be shut for 45 days.

The move marked the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country. However, Al Jazeera has continued operating in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza.

Al Jazeera denounced the move as it continued broadcasting live from Amman in neighbouring Jordan.

Armed Israeli troops entered the office and told a reporter live on air it would be shut for 45 days, saying that staff needed to leave immediately.

The network later aired what appeared to be Israel troops tearing down a banner on a balcony used by the Al Jazeera office.

Al Jazeera said it bore an image of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist shot dead by Israeli forces in May 2022.

'Arbitrary military decision'

“There is a court ruling for closing down Al Jazeera for 45 days,” an Israeli soldier told Al Jazeera’s local bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, in the live footage. “I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment.”

Al-Omari later said that Israeli troops began confiscating documents and equipment in the bureau, as tear gas and gunshots could be seen and heard in the area.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate denounced the Israeli raid and order.

“This arbitrary military decision is a new aggression against journalistic work and media outlets," it said.

The network has reported on the Israeli war on Gaza nonstop since October 7 and has maintained 24-hour coverage amid Israel’s grinding ground offensive that has killed and wounded members of its staff.

While including on-the-ground reporting of the war’s casualties, Al Jazeera's Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other regional groups.

That has led to Israeli claims by officials up to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the network has “harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers.” Those claims have been vehemently denied by Al Jazeera, whose main funder, Qatar, has been key in negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire to end the war.

An order closing Al Jazeera in Israel has been repeatedly renewed in the time since, but it hadn't as of yet ordered the Ramallah offices closed.

The closure of Al Jazeera's Ramallah office also comes as tensions continue to rise over a possible expansion of the war to Lebanon, where electronic devices exploded last week in a likely sabotage campaign by Israel targeting Lebanon's Hezbollah.