Israel keeps Al Jazeera’s West Bank office shut amid ongoing restrictions [Getty]
Israeli authorities renewed a closure order for Al Jazeera‘s Ramallah office in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, days after the Palestinian Authority suspended the network’s broadcasts for four months.
According to news agency AFP, Israeli soldiers posted the extension order Tuesday morning on the entrance of the building housing Al Jazeera’s offices in central Ramallah, a city under full Palestinian Authority security control.
The extension applies from December 22 and lasts 45 days.
In September, Israeli forces raided the Ramallah office and issued an initial 45-day closure order.
At the time, staff were instructed to leave the premises and take their personal belongings.
The move came months after Israel’s government approved a decision in May to ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting from Israel, also closing its offices for an initial 45-day period, which was extended for a fourth time by a Tel Aviv court in September.
Later in September, Israel’s government announced it was revoking the press credentials of Al Jazeera journalists in the country.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s government has long been at odds with Al Jazeera, a dispute that has escalated since the Gaza war began following Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7.
The Israeli army has repeatedly accused the network’s reporters in Gaza of being “terrorist operatives” affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
The Qatari channel denies the accusations, and says Israel systematically targets its staff in Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority has also ordered the suspension of broadcasts by Al Jazeera in a move the Qatar-based television network condemned on Thursday as reminiscent of Israeli practices.
The German foreign ministry described the move as “deeply worrying” while the UN human rights office called on the PA to “reverse course and respect its international law obligations”.
On Thursday, the PA insisted its own suspension order was “temporary”, adding its decision followed a complaint from the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate about the network’s coverage.
“These measures shall be applied until Al Jazeera chooses to act in accordance with basic media ethics, including its duty to prevent deliberate disinformation, ban the glorification of violence and end the incitement to armed mutiny,” the PA said.
