Live updates: Follow the latest from Israel-Gaza
The Israeli army raided news network Al Jazeera's bureau in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday and ordered its closure for 45 days, the Qatari broadcaster said.
Heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers forcefully entered Al Jazeera's office in Ramallah and handed a 45-day closure order to bureau chief Walid Al Omari, who read it out live on air. During the raid, soldiers also tore down a poster of Shireen Abu Akleh, an Al Jazeera journalist killed by the army during a raid in the city of Jenin in 2022.
No reason was given for the closure.
In May, Israel's parliament voted to shut down Al Jazeera within the country. The channel's East Jerusalem and Nazareth offices were raided and equipment seized, and it was banned broadcasting from in Israel. The ban is subject to renewal every 45 days.
“Targeting journalists this way always aims to erase the truth and prevent people from hearing the truth,” Mr Al Omari, who was forced out of the office, said in a statement shared by Al Jazeera.
Its Ramallah correspondent Nida Ibrahim said the raid came as “no surprise” after the May vote, but the team “did not expect it to happen today”.
“We’ve heard Israeli officials threatening to close down the bureau. We’ve heard the government discussing this, asking the military ruler in the occupied West Bank to close down and shut down the channel,” Ms Ibrahim told colleagues in Qatar.
Gaza's government media office called the order a “deafening scandal”.
“We call on all media organisations and groups that deal with human rights in the world to condemn this heinous crime … that is a blatant violation of press and media freedom,” it said.
Israeli officials have described the network as an “incitement machine” and accused its employees of terrorism, including participating in Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel that started the war.
Several Al Jazeera journalists have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, including the son of Gaza bureau chief Wael Al Dahdouh.
Last month, the outlet accused Israel of a “systematic targeting campaign against the network's journalists and their families” after correspondent Ismail Al Goul and cameraman Rami Al Rafi were killed in an air strike.
In 2021, the Israeli army bombed a tower where the network’s offices in Gaza were based.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Super Saturday race card
4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
4.35pm: Al Bastakiya Listed | $300,000 | (D) | 1,900m
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 | $350,000 | (Turf) | 1,200m
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 | $350,000 | (D) | 1,600m
6.20pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 | $300,000 | (T) | 2,410m
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 | $600,000 | (D) | 2,000m
7.30pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 | $400,000 | (T) | 1,800m
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
57%20Seconds
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rusty%20Cundieff%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJosh%20Hutcherson%2C%20Morgan%20Freeman%2C%20Greg%20Germann%2C%20Lovie%20Simone%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
