Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera said that Israeli forces raided its office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and issued a 45-day closure order. "There is a court ruling for closing down Al Jazeera for 45 days," an Israeli soldier told Al Jazeera's West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari, the network reported, citing the conversation which was broadcast live. "I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment," the soldier said.
Footage showed heavily armed and masked troops entering the office. The broadcaster said the soldiers did not provide a reason for the closure order. The move was the latest Israeli action against Al Jazeera.
Last week Israel's government announced it was revoking the press credentials of Al Jazeera journalists in the country, four months after banning the channel from operating inside Israel. The shutdown had not affected broadcasts from the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, from which Al Jazeera still covers Israel's war with Palestinian militants. The Israeli military has repeatedly accused journalists from the Qatari network of being "terrorist agents" in Gaza affiliated with Hamas or its ally, Islamic Jihad.
Al Jazeera denies the Israeli government's accusations and claims that Israel systematically targets its employees in the Gaza Strip..
