Israeli troops raided Al Jazeera’s offices in the West Bank on Sunday, ordering the bureau to shut down for 45 days. This follows a broadening crackdown on Al Jazeera that began in May. Heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers forcefully entered the network’s building in Ramallah, delivering a closure order to the West Bank bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, who stated the order accused the network of supporting terrorism.
This raid appears to contravene the Oslo Accords, which assign jurisdiction over internal security and public order in this part of the West Bank to the Palestinian Council. The Israeli military’s actions, including the confiscation of equipment and enforced office closure, undermine the autonomy established under these agreements, disregarding the Palestinian Authority’s jurisdiction in that area.
Further, the raid also challenges press freedoms enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Israel ratified in 1991. This incident has added to the extensive international criticism Israel has faced for actions against journalists reporting on the war in Gaza. According to Al Jazeera, 173 journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war.
Journalist Jivara Budeiri reported that soldiers “used tear gas in the vicinity” of the bureau and confiscated their cameras. Budeiri also expressed concerns over the potential destruction of Al Jazeera’s archives stored within the office.
The recent developments follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement in May of a ban on Al Jazeera broadcasts, accusing the network of instigating violence in the ongoing war in Gaza. A subsequent extension of the ban was announced a month later by Israeli Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi, who labeled Al Jazeera a “terrorist channel” and expressed optimism for extending the measures authorized under the law.
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