Israeli soldiers raided the West Bank offices of the Al Jazeera network early Sunday morning, forcing the bureau to shut down. Al Jazeera broadcast video of the military entering the bureau and ordering staff to evacuate and cease operations.
“There is a court ruling for closing down Al Jazeera for 45 days,” a soldier told bureau chief Walid al-Omari in the live footage, according to Al Jazeera. “I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment.”
The troops seized documents and equipment — including the microphone al-Omari was using to interview them. In an article covering the raid, Al Jazeera wrote that the move is “aimed at silencing network’s coverage of Gaza war.”
Twelve hours after the raid, the Israeli government made a statement without including evidence that the bureau was “being used to incite terror, to support terrorist activities and that the channel’s broadcasts endanger… security and public order.”
This past May, the Israeli government shut down Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel and closed its Jerusalem offices, raiding and confiscating equipment. It also banned Al Jazeera from broadcasting in Israel, citing national security concerns after Israel’s parliament passed a law allowing the government to stop foreign broadcasts if they were decided to be a threat to Israel’s security. Last week, the Israeli government revoked Al Jazeera journalists’ press credentials in the country.
The board of the Foreign Press Association, which represents international media working in Israel and the Palestinian territories, said in a statement that it was “deeply troubled by this escalation, which threatens press freedom.” It called for the government to “reconsider these actions,” adding, “Restricting foreign reporters and closing news channels signals a shift away from democratic values.”
Carlos Martínez de la Serna, program director for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the organization is “deeply alarmed.”
“Israel’s efforts to censor Al Jazeera severely undermine the public’s right to information on a war that has upended so many lives in the region,” he said in a statement. “Al Jazeera’s journalists must be allowed to report at this critical time, and always.”
Four Al Jazeera journalists are among the at least 116 journalists and media workers who have been killed since the war in Gaza began, marking the deadliest time period for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists began collecting data in 1992. The committee said it is still investigating another 130 cases of potential journalist killings, arrests and injuries but added that “many are difficult to document amid these harsh conditions.”
