Israeli forces raided the bureau of media network Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah early yesterday morning, issuing it with a military order to shut down operations, the network and the Israeli military said yesterday.
The Qatar-headquartered channel aired live footage of Israeli troops entering the office with their weapons drawn and handing a military court order to Ramallah bureau chief Walid Al Omari forcing the bureau to close for 45 days.
The Israeli military said, in response to a Reuters query, that the channel’s offices had been sealed and its equipment confiscated. The military added that the order was signed after an intelligence assessment determined that the offices were being used “to incite terror, to support terrorist activities”.
“The channel’s broadcasts endanger the security and public order in both the area and the State of Israel as a whole,” the statement said.
Al Jazeera called the raid “a criminal act” and held the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for the safety of its journalists, it said in a statement.
The network added that it would take legal action to protect it rights and promised to continue its coverage. “Al Jazeera rejects the draconian actions, and the unfounded allegations presented by Israeli authorities to justify these illegal raids,” it said.
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