Palestinian Authority suspends Al Jazeera broadcasts in West Bank

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has suspended Al Jazeera from operating in the occupied West Bank, months after Israel closed its office in Ramallah on national security grounds.

The decision to freeze the channel’s work on Wednesday was taken because of “inciting material”, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The PA, which controls Palestinian territory in the West Bank, also blamed the broadcaster for “reports that were deceiving and stirring strife”.

Al Jazeera had already been banned by the PA from reporting in Jenin, a governorate in the northern West Bank where Palestinian security forces have recently fought with Palestinian armed groups linked to Hamas.

Responding to the wider West Bank suspension, Al Jazeera accused the PA of “an attempt to hide the truth about events in the occupied territories, especially what is happening in Jenin and its camps.”

In a statement published on Thursday, Al Jazeera said it was “shocked by this decision,” which it urged the PA to reverse.

Al Jazeera added that the PA was “fully responsible for the safety and security” of its staff in the West Bank.

It remains unclear how long the ban will last.

The latest blow for Al Jazeera comes just months after Israeli troops raided its offices in the West Bank, seizing equipment and ordering its bureau to close.

The September raid in Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the West Bank, followed Israel’s decision in May to ban Al Jazeera from working in the country.

The Israeli Communication Minister Shlomo Karhi has described the network as “the mouthpiece of Hamas and Hezbollah”, a charge vehemently denied by the channel.

Al Jazeera’s relationship with the Israeli authorities became more strained after the death of its journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, in Jenin in May 2022. Israel’s army admitted that there was a “high possibility” that she had been killed by one of its troops.

The network continues to report on the situation in Gaza, where more than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since it declared war on Hamas after the deadly 7 October attacks.

Over the last 15 months, tensions have risen in the West Bank between Israeli settlers and Palestinians.