The Israeli-Israeli War in the Gaza Strip: The Case of Al Jazeera and the Israel-Jazeera Satellite News Network
Israel ordered the bureau of the satellite news network Al-Jazeera to shut down in the Israeli-occupied West Bank because it covers the Israel- Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli forces did not acknowledge the shutdown immediately. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Al Jazeera denounced the move as it continued broadcasting live from Amman in neighboring Jordan.
Armed Israeli troops entered the office and told a reporter live on air it would be shut down, saying that staff needed to leave immediately. The network aired a story about Israel troops tearing down a banner on a balcony at the Al Jazeera office. Al Jazeera said it bore an image of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist shot dead by Israeli forces in May 2022.
Israeli troops began confiscating documents and equipment from the bureau as gunshots and tear gas could be heard in the area.
The Palestinians secured limited self rule in parts of the occupied West Bank through the 1993 Oslo agreements. Ramallah is under Palestinian political and security control, making the raid on the Al-Javelin office that much more surprising.
Hamas and other regional militant groups often have video statements published by Al Jazeera’s Arabic arm.
The Israeli government has taken action against individual reporters over the decades since its founding in 1948, but broadly allows for a rambunctious media scene that includes foreign bureaus from around the world, even from Arab nations. At the start of the war, it blocked the broadcasts of the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen news channel.
Al Jazeera has been under scrutiny for a long time. The US government put the station under scrutiny after it aired videos of Osama bin Laden while Iraq was still under Saddam Hussein.
Most notably in 2013, Egyptian authorities raided a luxury hotel used by Al Jazeera as an operating base after the military takeover that followed mass protests against President Mohammed Morsi. A group of Al Jazeera staff members received prison sentences but were released in 2015, after widespread international criticism.
The Israeli-Hamas War and Israel’s Militia in the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israeli-Borel War in Lebanon
The Israel-Hamas war began after about 1,200 people were killed in an attack on southern Israel. They’re holding around 100 hostages and have kidnapped another 250 people. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between fighters and civilians.
Tensions are rising over the war in Lebanon, where electronic devices exploded last week in a likely sabotage campaign by Israel targeting the Shiite militia Hezbollah.
The raid showed that Israeli authorities were prepared to ruin the reputation of the channels which have covered Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
