Israeli soldiers raid Al Jazeera office in Ramallah | News

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Heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers raid an Al Jazeera office in the occupied West Bank and order it to close for 45 days.

Israeli forces have raided Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office in the occupied West Bank and ordered a 45-day closure, the latest attempt to restrict the news network’s reporting.

Heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers entered the building and handed the order to close to Walid al-Omari, the network’s West Bank chief. They gave no reason for the decision.

“There is a court order to close Al Jazeera for 45 days,” a soldier told al-Omari as Al Jazeera Arabic broadcast the conversation live on television.

“I ask you to take all cameras and leave the office immediately,” the soldier said in Arabic.

The Israeli government banned Al Jazeera from operating in Israel in May.

The original measure was also in place for 45 days, but has since been extended and Al Jazeera journalists are still unable to report from the country.

Nida Ibrahim, Al Jazeera’s West Bank correspondent, said by telephone from Ramallah that the raid and shutdown order were “not a surprise” given the previous ban on reporting from Israel.

“We have heard Israeli officials threatening to close the station. We have heard the government talking about this, asking the military leader in the occupied West Bank to close the canal and seal it off. But we (didn’t) expect it to happen today,” Ibrahim said.

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