Early Sunday saw a raid on the Al-Jazeera satellite news network offices in the West Bank, which is under Israeli occupation. This action was taken by Israeli military forces. Subsequently, an order to close the bureau was issued by Israel, as part of its broadening campaign targeting the broadcaster funded by Qatar. This broadcaster has been giving coverage to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza Strip.
Visuals of Israeli military ordering the bureau to cease operations for a duration of 45 days was aired live on Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel. This builds upon an order served in May, which resulted in an interception of Al Jazeera’s broadcast spot in East Jerusalem by Israeli police. This caused the blocking of its broadcasts to Israel and restriction of its web content, marking the first time Israel has ever imposed such a shutdown on a foreign media network operational in the nation.
Despite these actions, Al Jazeera has carried on with its operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip under Israeli occupation. Israeli forces have yet to officially admit to the shutdown. The act has been condemned by Al Jazeera, as they continue to broadcast live from Amman, located in neighbouring Jordan.
Throughout the war that kicked off with a cross-border assault by Hamas on the 7th of October, the network has been consistently providing coverage, despite the loss of some of their staff. Alongside ground reports about war casualties, their Arabic sector commonly shares video statements directly from Hamas and other militant groups in the region. This has led Israel to accuse the network of being a threat to their security, a claim which has been refuted by Al Jazeera.