Israel raids office of Al Jazeera news channel, equipment seized

NOS News•today, 12:57•Amended today, 4:54 PM

Israeli police have raided a makeshift newsroom of the Qatari news channel Al Jazeera after it was announced earlier today that the country would close the news channel’s offices.

Police raided an Al Jazeera office in a hotel in Jerusalem. According to the news channel, the editorial staff is based in East Jerusalem, which the international community views as occupied Palestinian territory.

Video footage shows inspectors and officers entering a hotel room newsroom to seize broadcast equipment. The channel has now gone black in Israel.

View images and reactions from the raid here:

Israeli police raid Al Jazeera office in Jerusalem

Al Jazeera has long been a thorn in the side of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who now calls the Arabic channel “inflammatory” in a statement.

The channel reports critically on the war in Gaza. Netanyahu said last month that he wants to ban the news channel from broadcasting from Israel. The Israeli parliament recently passed a law that paves the way for this. According to Al Jazeera, the channel could initially be banned for 45 days based on that law.

Al Jazeera called the closing of the offices “criminal” earlier in the day. Editorial chief Waleed Omari for Israel and the Palestinian Territories further says that “the background of this decision is not professional or journalistic, but political.”

“Israel’s suppression of the free press to cover up its crimes by killing and arresting journalists has not prevented us from fulfilling our duty,” the channel said in an initial statement.

The Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ) calls Israel’s action a mortal sin. “This is particularly reprehensible, unworthy of a democratic constitutional state,” says spokesman Paul Teixeira.

He fears that this step will “open the dam”. “Soon Israel will also look at Western media that report critically about the war and say: ‘the NOS, Reuters and AP must also leave’.” Teixeira does not call such a scenario unthinkable. “Censorship is really the lowest and often a harbinger of much more serious things that I don’t even dare to think about right now.”

The international organization Reporters without Borders (RSF) has long said that the pressure on journalists in Israel has increased since the war. They see that critical reporting on the war is seriously hampered, partly because only journalists affiliated with the Israeli army are allowed to enter Gaza.

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi previously said that Al Jazeera would be banned because it serves as a propaganda channel for Hamas. “There will be no freedom of the press for Hamas mouthpieces.” Al Jazeera denies those accusations and says Israel is systematically attacking journalists in the Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets still broadcasting live from Gaza. The channel is funded by the Qatari government, but says it operates independently.

The UN says it regrets the decision to close the offices. “Free and independent media are essential so that transparency can be guaranteed and accountability is ensured. Especially now, given the severe restrictions on reporting from Gaza.” The UN is urging the Israeli government to reverse the decision.