Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that heavily armed Israeli soldiers seized and destroyed equipment at its offices in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, while carrying out an order to close the branch for 45 days, according to the Qatari network’s editor-in-chief in Palestine, Walid al Omari.
“Soldiers are confiscating the equipment even though the order only refers to the closure of the office,” the network reported.
Al Jazeera, known for its coverage of hospital bombings, attacks on residential buildings and the killing of unarmed civilians in Gaza, also reported that during the raid soldiers tore down a poster of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed two years ago by an Israeli soldier while covering a military raid in the West Bank.
This event sparked international condemnation and increased tensions between Israel and the canal.
The Foreign Ministry of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs small parts of the occupied West Bank, condemned the raid on the offices in Ramallah, saying the failure of international bodies and the UN Security Council to enforce their resolutions undermines the possibility of a two-state agreement.
The Hamas government media office in Gaza has strongly condemned the Israeli military’s decision to close Al Jazeera’s offices in Ramallah, calling it a “crime and a clear violation of international law.”
In a statement posted on Telegram, the office said the decision reflects “the weakness and fragility of the Israeli narrative in the face of the truth and facts on the ground.”
The statement also calls on press unions and media organisations to condemn this act, and calls on journalists and media outlets around the world to stand in solidarity with Al Jazeera in defence of press freedom.
The Israel Foreign Press Association, which represents journalists covering Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories for foreign media, said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned” by the incident and called on the Israeli government to “reconsider” its actions.
The military raid comes just four days after the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) revoked the press cards of Al Jazeera journalists in the country. The move follows a decision in May to ban the channel in Israel, claiming its coverage posed a threat to national security.
Gaza death toll tops 41,400
The death toll in the Gaza Strip after 11-and-a-half months of war surpassed 41,400 on Sunday, while the number of wounded rose to 95,818 people, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health of the Palestinian enclave.
“The ‘Israeli’ occupation committed three massacres against families in Gaza, resulting in 40 martyrs and 58 wounded arriving at hospitals in the last 24 hours,” detailed a statement from the ministry.
An estimated 10,000 bodies remain buried under tons of rubble, out of reach of ambulances and civil defence teams due to insecurity and the lack of heavy machinery.
At least seven Gazans were killed and an undetermined number injured in an Israeli attack on a school housing displaced people in the Al Shati refugee camp near the northern city of Gaza on Tuesday, local medical sources confirmed to EFE.
The Israeli army said it had attacked, as it regularly does, a group of Hamas militants operating from the school complex. Yesterday, in another attack on another school complex in the Gazan capital, 22 Gazans were killed, including 13 children and six women.
The bombing also left around thirty people injured, including children with amputations, after two missiles hit a three-storey school building in the Zeitun neighbourhood.
Jerusalem / EFE
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2024-09-24 20:59:51
