Israeli Forces Raid Al Jazeera Bureau in West Bank Following Closure Order

Sunday morning, Al Jazeera TV from Qatar reported that Israeli forces had stormed its bureau in Ramallah, West Bank, and given it a military order to close for 45 days.

Before the broadcast was interrupted, the Qatar-based channel showed live footage of Israeli troops storming the channel’s office and giving one of the Al Jazeera TV staff a military closure order.

“This arbitrary military decision is considered a new violation against journalistic and media works, which has been exposing the occupation’s crimes against the Palestinian people,” the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate said in a statement denouncing the Israeli action.

In May, after the government decided to shut down Al Jazeera’s local operations, citing national security threats, Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room that the television station used as its office.