Israel’s military raided and ordered the closure of Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah on Sunday, 22 September, located in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera said.
“These repressive measures aim to prevent the world from seeing the reality of the situation in the occupied territories,“ Al Jazeera said in a statement.
Al Jazeera aired a video early Sunday showing Israeli soldiers entering its offices in Ramallah without any prior notice. In the video, a soldier informs bureau chief Walid Omary about a military order to close Al Jazeera’s office for 45 days.
While reading the order on air, Omary stated that staff members had just ten minutes to gather their personal belongings and cameras before vacating the premises. When Omary inquired about the reason for the closure, he was told that the explanation was included in the written military order.
A security guard on duty at the time told CNN that soldiers used explosives to break into the building. “My eyes were heavy, and I was almost asleep when I suddenly saw them breaking the main door,” said Abu Amer. “I stood up to see what they were doing. They threw the first bomb and then the second.”
A CNN report has confirmed that the building sustained extensive damage after the raid. The entrance to Al Jazeera’s workspace was completely sealed off with iron doors, which the security guard indicated were installed by the Israeli military. Three CCTV cameras are missing after being confiscated by Israeli soldiers.
Why this matters
Israel has a long history of targeting and killing journalists, most notably the Palestinian correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot while reporting for Al Jazeera during an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.
Many journalists have also been killed during the ongoing war in Gaza since October. As of September 22, 2024, preliminary investigations by the Committee to Protect Journalists indicate that at least 116 journalists and media workers are among the over 42,000 casualties since the conflict began, marking it the deadliest period for journalists since the CPJ started collecting data in 1992.
Journalists are considered civilians and are protected under international law, which means that deliberately targeting civilians is classified as a war crime.
The United Nations experts have expressed concern over the killings of journalists, stating in a February announcement that they are “alarmed by the extraordinarily high number of journalists and media workers who have been killed, attacked, injured, or detained in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially in Gaza, in recent months, showing a blatant disregard for international law.”
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