Al Jazeera's West Bank Bureau Raided and Closed by Israel

Al Jazeera's bureau in the occupied West Bank was raided and closed by Israeli forces on Sunday, with heavily-armed soldiers seizing equipment and confiscating documents. The move is the latest in a series of Israeli government actions targeting the Qatari-owned news network, which has been critical of Israel's policies towards Palestinians.

Israel's Communications Minister, Shlomo Karhi, announced the closure, calling Al Jazeera "the mouthpiece of Hamas and Hezbollah." According to a statement issued by the Israeli military, the order follows an intelligence assessment that determined that the offices were allegedly used "to incite terror, to support terrorist activities."

The closure of Al Jazeera's bureau is the latest in a long list of Israeli government actions targeting the network. On 12 September, the government announced the revocation of the press credentials of Al Jazeera's journalists, following the ban on the channel operating in Israel imposed on 5 May. This was strongly condemned by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS).

"Israel is trampling on international law by shutting down a media outlet in a territory that it illegally occupies," stated IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger in an interview with Al Jazeera. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution on 18 September demanding an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine within the next twelve months by an overwhelming margin, following the ruling from the International Court of Justice.

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, on 7 October 2023, the Israeli government has intensified policies to censor critical media outlets that do not conform to the official narrative over "security concerns." On 13 November, it blocked access to the Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen, in line with the emergency regulations approved on 20 October, that allow the temporary ban of media outlets alleged to "undermine national security."

The PJS released a statement condemning the raid and closure of Al Jazeera's bureau. "This military decision is a new aggression against journalistic work and the media outlets that have been reporting the crimes against the Palestinian people [...] The PJS expresses its full solidarity with Al Jazeera’s journalists and puts its headquarters at the service of colleagues working at the channel."

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger expressed full support from 600,000 media professionals represented by the IFJ across the world for Al Jazeera’s editorial staff in Ramallah. "The policy of this Israeli government is to silence any voice that might contradict its official narrative. They have destroyed all the media in Gaza, targeted and killed journalists only because they were doing their job and now they want to wipe out the media in the occupied West Bank [...] The international community must take action to put an end to the ongoing massacres of civilians and attacks on the media which are a clear violation of international and humanitarian law."

UPDATE 07.01.2025: Israeli authorities extended the closure of Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office in the occupied West Bank. It applies from December 22 and lasts 45 days. This happened five days after the Palestinian Authority ordered the temporary suspension of Al Jazeera’s operations in the West Bank.