Israeli forces raid, shutter Al Jazeera office in Ramallah
The Israeli occupation forces have raided the offices of the Al Jazeera TV channel in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah and ordered the closure of the Qatar-headquartered news network in a blatant violation of press freedom.
Local media reports said heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers forcefully entered the Al Jazeera offices in the center of Ramallah after midnight on Sunday and informed its employees of the regime’s decision to close it for 45 days.
The sounds of gunfire and teargas were heard during the raid and live footage broadcast by Al Jazeera showed the occupation forcing the office workers to leave immediately.
The Israeli soldiers handed the 45-day closure order to the network’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari early on Sunday without providing a reason for the decision.
The Israeli forces tore down a banner of martyred journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during their raid on the TV channel.
Wearing press attire, the 51-year-old Al Jazeera journalist was murdered by Israeli forces’ live armor-piercing bullet to the head while covering a military raid by the regime’s military on the refugee camp located inside the city of Jenin in the northern part of the occupied West Bank on May 11, 2022.
Later, Abu Akleh’s funeral was also attacked by the occupation forces.
Hamas: Al Jazeera closure aimed at ‘concealing the truth’
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, said the Israeli closure of Al Jazeera offices in Ramallah is a retaliatory measure against its professional role in exposing the occupation’s crimes against Palestinian people.
“Closing Al Jazeera is an attempt to cover up the resistance’s performance in Gaza and Hezbollah’s response and is the culmination of the declared war against journalists with the aim of concealing the truth,” he said.
“We stand in solidarity with Al Jazeera and condemn the decision to close it, and we are confident that the decision will not prevent it from continuing its role and challenging all obstacles.”
[This item will be updated.]
