Israel raids Al Jazeera offices in West Bank

Israeli troops raided Al Jazeera’s offices in the West Bank early on Sunday and ordered the station to shut down for 45 days.

Al Jazeera reported that “heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers forcefully entered” the network’s offices in Ramallah and handed the West Bank bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, the closure order, which accused the station of “incitement to and support of terrorism.”

The Qatar-owned channel aired footage of the Israeli troops storming the office.

“Targeting journalists this way always aims to erase the truth and prevent people from hearing the truth,” al-Omari said, Al Jazeera reported.

Israel’s Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi posted about the raid on social media, calling Al Jazeera “the mouthpiece of Hamas and Hezbollah.”

“We will continue to fight enemy channels and ensure the safety of our heroic fighters,” Karhi said.

This isn’t the first time Israel has cracked down on Al Jazeera, one of the only media outlets broadcasting from the Gaza Strip. In May, Israel raided and closed the network’s East Jerusalem office, banning the company’s websites and broadcasts in the country. The initial closure order was also for 45 days, but it was renewed, Al Jazeera said.

In April, Israel passed a law allowing the state to shut down foreign media outlets if it deems them a security threat — a move that was widely criticized.