The Palestinian Authority has ordered the halting of broadcasts by Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based network, throughout the Palestinian territories, alleging that the channel is airing “inciting content,” according to reports from official media.
“The specialized ministerial committee, which includes the ministries of culture, interior, and communications, has resolved to suspend broadcasts and cease all activities of the Al Jazeera satellite channel and its office in Palestine,” stated the official Wafa news agency.
“The ruling also includes a temporary freeze on the operations of all journalists, staff, crews, and affiliated channels until their legal status is resolved due to Al Jazeera’s contraventions of the laws and regulations in effect in Palestine,” the report continued.
“This ruling is a response to Al Jazeera’s persistence in broadcasting inciting content and reports characterized by misinformation, incitement, sedition, and interference in Palestinian domestic affairs,” it added.
Subsequently, the channel broadcast images showing what appeared to be Palestinian security personnel invading the network’s office in Ramallah and delivering the suspension orders. However, there has been no response from the channel regarding the Palestinian Authority’s action.
The militant group Hamas has denounced the decision to prohibit the network.
“This decision fits within a series of recent arbitrary measures taken by the Authority to limit public rights and freedoms, thereby tightening its security control over the Palestinian populace,” Hamas stated in a news release.
“We urge the Palestinian Authority to promptly reverse this decision … It is essential to allow media coverage that highlights the occupation and bolsters our people’s resilience,” they asserted.
Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Hamas in Gaza, also voiced opposition to the decision.
“We strongly condemn the Authority’s choice to close Al Jazeera’s office in Palestine at a time when our people and our cause desperately need to communicate their suffering to the world,” the group remarked in a statement.
‘Incitement campaign’
Tensions between the Doha-based network and the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have escalated in recent weeks following the channel’s reporting on confrontations between Palestinian security forces and militants in Jenin.
In late December, the channel criticized what it described as an “incitement campaign” by Fatah against the network in some regions of the occupied West Bank.
“This campaign emerged in response to the network’s coverage of clashes between Palestinian security forces and resistance fighters in Jenin,” it remarked in a statement at that time.
“Throughout its reporting on the tragic situations in Jenin, Al Jazeera ensured that all voices, including those of resistance fighters and spokespeople for the Palestinian security forces, were included,” it added.
The security forces of the Palestinian Authority, which has limited control over the West Bank, have been in deadly confrontations with gunmen since early December, spurred by the arrests of multiple militants.
They are engaging with members of the Jenin Battalion, most of whom are linked to either Islamic Jihad or Hamas, whose attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, instigated the current Gaza war.
The violence in the Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of armed groups located in the northern West Bank and a frequent target of Israeli military operations, has resulted in the deaths of 11 individuals, including PA security personnel, militants, and civilians.
The Palestinian Authority’s decision follows more than three months after Israeli forces stormed the network’s office in Ramallah.
The network is already prohibited from broadcasting within Israel due to an ongoing conflict with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has further deteriorated during the current war in Gaza.
