9/24/2024–|Last update: 9/24/202402:16 AM (Makkah Time)
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has condemned Israel’s decision to close Tel Aviv Tribune’s office in Ramallah, calling it “very bad news” and condemning it.
Ahead of his participation in a meeting in New York of representatives of the G7 countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Borrell told reporters that Tel Aviv Tribune provides a valuable service and that there is no press that covers what is happening in Gaza except Tel Aviv Tribune, which paid a heavy price with the killing of its journalists.
Borrell added that Israel imposed the longest media blackout in the history of wars in Gaza, according to his expression.
Condemnations have continued at the highest levels from countries, officials and human rights organizations regarding the Israeli occupation forces’ storming and closing of the Tel Aviv Tribune office in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank last Sunday morning.
Armed raid
A heavily armed force from the Israeli army stormed the Tel Aviv Tribune office in Ramallah at dawn on Sunday and announced its closure for 45 days without explaining the reasons.
CNN quoted a security source as saying that Israeli soldiers used explosives to storm the building’s entrance, and the source confirmed that extensive damage was seen outside and inside the building.
The invading forces confiscated all equipment and documents, along with a military order to close it under the emergency law. They prevented the Tel Aviv Tribune crew in Ramallah and colleagues Walid Al Omari and Guevara Al Badri from working, and stopped broadcasting.
The Israeli army sent trucks to confiscate and remove the camera and broadcast equipment and documents from Tel Aviv Tribune’s office, although the military order did not stipulate their confiscation.
The raid came four months after the occupation authorities closed the channel’s office in occupied Jerusalem.
Tel Aviv Tribune Network condemned the Israeli occupation forces’ storming and closing of its office in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, and stressed that these repressive measures aim to prevent the world from seeing the reality of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and the war on Gaza.