Israeli forces raided the offices of news broadcaster Al Jazeera in Ramallah, West Bank, and ordered it closed for an initial 45-day period.
Armed and masked Israeli soldiers entered the building early Sunday morning during a live broadcast.
Viewers watched as soldiers handed the closure order to the network’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari, who read it live on air.
Israelis raided Al Jazeera’s offices in Nazareth and East Jerusalem in May as they described the Qatar-based broadcaster as a threat to national security.
“Directing journalists in this way is always aimed at erasing the truth and preventing people from hearing the truth,” said Omari commenting on his employer.
The soldiers seized the last microphone and camera outside the street and forced Omari out of the office, Al Jazeera reporter Mohammad Alsaafin said.
Writing about the raid on social media, Alsaafin said the soldiers also destroyed a poster of Shireen Abu Aqla – an Al Jazeera journalist who was killed while reporting on the Israeli army’s attack on the West Bank.
The network and witnesses at the time said the Palestinian-American journalist was shot by Israeli forces. Israel initially denied that it had been shot by a Palestinian, however a few months later concluded that “there are many possibilities” that one of his soldiers killed him.
Relations between the Qatari-owned broadcaster and the Israeli government have long been strained but have worsened following the outbreak of war in Gaza.
As foreign journalists are barred from entering the compound, Al Jazeera staff based in the area were the only journalists able to cover the war on the ground.
Israel has also called the network a terrorist mouthpiece, which Al Jazeera has denied.
In AprilIsrael’s parliament passed a law that gives the government the power to temporarily block foreign radio stations deemed a threat to national security during wartime.
The ban will be in place for 45 days at a time, as seen in Sunday’s raid, and can be renewed.
In early May, Al Jazeera’s offices in Nazareth again took East Jerusalem they were attacked separately.
Israel is yet to comment on Sunday’s operation.
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