The Union of Journalists in Israel (UJI) on Monday condemned last week’s “problematic and worrying” raid and the ordered closure of the office of the Qatari television channel Al-Jazeera in Ramallah.
“The closure was made under a military order, subject to an embargo, and it is not possible to know what is behind the decision to close the offices,” the UJI said in a statement.
The raid was also made public by the Israeli military “in what appears to be a public relations stunt and nothing more,” the statement continued.
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The IJU said such measures should be supported by civilian authorities, who can ensure due process, and that the raid “should worry every journalist and every citizen of a democratic country.”
In the order requiring 45 days of closure, the Qatari channel is accused of “inciting and supporting terrorism”, according to the head of the Ramallah bureau, Walid al-Omari, reported by the channel on Sunday.
On September 12, the Israeli government announced the revocation of the press cards of several Al-Jazeera journalists, four months after banning its broadcast and closing its bureau in Israel on May 5.
READ: 5 things to know about the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera
To do this, the Knesset adopted a law at the beginning of April allowing it to take measures against foreign media “undermining state security”.
The 45-day shutdowns are renewable and the shutdown of Al-Jazeera in Israel was extended for a fourth time by a Tel Aviv court on September 11.
This ban had until now affected the channel’s work neither in the West Bank nor in the Gaza Strip, where Al-Jazeera journalists are present to cover the war against Hamas, following the pogrom perpetrated by the group Palestinian terrorist on Israeli soil on October 7.
The IDF has repeatedly accused Qatari journalists present in Gaza of being “terrorist agents” affiliated with Hamas or its ally, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
For its part, Al-Jazeera rejects the Israeli accusations and asserts that Israel systematically targets its reporters deployed in the Gaza Strip.
The closure of the Ramallah office “is not a surprise,” according to Al-Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim, quoted by the channel.
“We had heard Israeli officials threaten to close the office […] but we didn’t expect this to happen today,” she said.
The Hamas press service condemned the Israeli army raid on Sunday, calling it a “resounding scandal” and a “blatant violation of press freedom.”
In May, Al-Jazeera criticized its ban on operating in Israel, calling it a “criminal” decision.
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