Palestine - September 2024

On 22 September, Israeli forces raided Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah, seizing equipment and issuing a renewable 45-day suspension order. Although Ramallah is under the Palestinian Authority’s control in Area A of the occupied West Bank, the raid was carried out under a military closure order reportedly authorized by the head of the Israeli Defence Forces’ Central Command. This follows a law passed in April that empowers Israeli ministers to close foreign news outlets considered a "national security threat." In May, Israel then ordered Al Jazeera to cease operations within its territory, including the closure of its East Jerusalem bureau. Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets reporting from Gaza amid the ongoing war and has faced significant challenges since Israel first contemplated plans to shut it down in 2017. This has included the killing, intimidation and arrest of its journalists by Israeli forces, which intensified with the onset of the 2023 war in Gaza. The network condemned the Ramallah office raid and stated it would continue its coverage of Gaza and the occupied territories.

Update: In early January 2025, the Palestinian Authority (PA) suspended Al Jazeera’s operations in the occupied West Bank, halting its TV broadcasts and blocking access to its websites for an initial period of four months. The decision followed tensions over the network’s coverage of the PA security forces’ operation against militant groups in Jenin in December 2024. Shortly after the PA’s announcement, Israeli authorities renewed the 45-day closure order on Al Jazeera’s offices in Ramallah.

Sources: Reuters, Al Jazeera (1), Al Jazeera (2), Haaretz, International IDEA (1), International IDEA (2), WAFA, United Nations, Middle East Monitor, International IDEA (3)