Israel extends closure of Al Jazeera office in occupied West Bank 

Israeli authorities have renewed a closure order on Al Jazeera’s office in the occupied West Bank, days after the Palestinian Authority suspended the network’s broadcasts for four months.

Israeli soldiers posted an extension order on the entrance of the building housing Al Jazeera’s offices in central Ramallah, a city in the occupied West Bank under Palestinian Authority (PA) control, on Tuesday morning. The document renews the closure starting on December 22 for 45 days.

According to Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel, the commander of the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank, Avi Balut, said that the order was justified because the office was being used for “incitement and support for acts of terrorism”.

Last September, Israeli forces raided Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office and issued an initial 45-day closure order.

Staff were instructed to leave the premises and take their personal belongings. Later, Israel’s government announced it was also revoking the press credentials of Al Jazeera journalists in the country.

The move followed a decision in May to ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting from Israel. The network’s offices were also closed for 45 days; an order that has been extended several times.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has long been at odds with Al Jazeera. Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza last October, the network has faced repeated attempts to silence its reporting through arrests, imprisonment and attacks on its journalists.

Al Jazeera has condemned and denounced Israel’s orders on its office in Ramallah.

In a statement in September, the network said: “The raid on the office and seizure of our equipment is not only an attack on Al Jazeera, but an affront to press freedom and the very principles of journalism.”

“These oppressive measures are clearly intended to prevent the world from witnessing the reality of the situation in the occupied territories and the ongoing war on Gaza and the devastating impact on innocent civilians.”

The PA has also suspended all Al Jazeera broadcasts from the occupied West Bank and placed restrictions on anyone working for the network, it says on grounds that the channel violates Palestinian laws, and that Al Jazeera is tampering with and interfering in Palestinian internal affairs.

Al Jazeera has slammed the decision, branding it a move “in line with the [Israeli] occupation’s actions against its staff”.