Al Jazeera TV reported on Sunday (22) that heavily armed Israeli soldiers seized and destroyed equipment at its offices in Ramallah, in the West Bank, while carrying out an order to close the premises. The information comes from the editor-in-chief of the Qatari broadcaster, which also operates in Palestine, Walid al-Omari.
“The military is confiscating the equipment, even though the order only refers to closing the office,” Al Jazeera reported.
This Israeli military incursion comes four days after the Israeli Government Press Office revoked the press credentials of Al Jazeera journalists in the country.
The move follows a decision in May to ban the channel in Israel, saying the broadcaster’s coverage posed a threat to national security.
In an official statement, the news network condemned the attack by Israeli forces on its office and promised to “continue coverage in a professional and objective manner” despite the Israeli measures, which it considered “attempts to silence” the news channel and prevent it from “reporting the truth.”
Israeli government bans Al Jazeera in the country
In May, the Israeli government banned the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera from broadcasting in the country. The decision came a month after the Israeli parliament (Knesset) passed a law temporarily banning any foreign media that “harms the security of the state.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government argues that Al Jazeera supports Hamas, against which the Israelis have been waging a war in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 in response to the terrorist group’s attacks on Israeli territory.
In June, the Israeli government said that some hostages freed from captivity in Gaza were staying at the home of a journalist who had written for Al Jazeera and other Arab media outlets, named Abdallah Aljamal.
Ajiamal wrote a column for Al Jazeera in 2019, prompting questions about whether he was still a Gaza correspondent for the Qatari state media outlet. At the time, the outlet confirmed that the journalist had previously worked for the outlet, but denied any current association with the terrorist.
According to Israeli media, Aljamal was also a spokesman for the Labor Ministry of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and was responsible for the massacre and kidnapping of civilians on the Israeli side on October 7.
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