West Bank - September 22, 2024

Israeli forces stormed the office of Al Jazeera in West Bank's Ramallah, with a military order to close it for 45 days, the Qatari broadcaster reported on Sunday.

It said that heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers entered the building and handed the closure order to the network's West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari.

The order accuses Al Jazeera of "incitement to and support of terrorism," and the Israeli soldiers "confiscated" the bureau's cameras. The Israeli military has accused Al Jazeera journalists of links to Hamas or Islamic Jihad, which Al Jazeera denies, adding that Israel has targeted its employees in Gaza. Four of the network's journalists have been killed since October 7, 2023, and its office in Gaza was bombed.

"We have not received any notifications or warnings, except for the incitement that they intend to close the Al Jazeera office in the West Bank. After they closed the Al Jazeera office in Jerusalem on May 5, they renewed its closure every 45 days. This matter also applies to the office in Ramallah for 45 days, under the Emergency Orders Law of 1945, a law that follows the British Mandate that governed Palestine," said Walid al-Omari, chief of Al Jazeera's West Bank bureau.

Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, broadcasting bloody scenes of air attacks and overcrowded hospitals, and accusing Israel of massacres.Israel has accused Al Jazeera of bias against it and collaboration with Hamas. The Qatar-based network has repeatedly rejected the accusations.

Shotlist
Ramallah, West Bank - Sept 22, 2024:
1. Various of vehicle moving in street;
2. Building with lights on;
3. Various of gate; reporters;
4. Various of Walid al-Omari, chief of Al Jazeera's West Bank bureau, holding paper; people taking photos;
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Walid al-Omari, chief, Al Jazeera's West Bank bureau:"We have not received any notifications or warnings, except for the incitement that they intend to close the Al Jazeera office in the West Bank. After they closed the Al Jazeera office in Jerusalem on May 5, they renewed its closure every 45 days. This matter also applies to the office in Ramallah for 45 days, under the Emergency Orders Law of 1945, a law that follows the British Mandate that governed Palestine.";
6. People discussing;
7. Signs of Al Jazeera;
8. Various of building.

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