Press freedom groups and human rights activists have condemned the Israeli military’s forced closure of Tel Aviv Tribune’s office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, calling it an attack on journalism.
Early Sunday morning, Israeli soldiers raided the network’s Qatar-based office and ordered it closed for 45 days.
The raid, filmed live on television, showed heavily armed Israeli troops delivering an order from the Israeli military court to Tel Aviv Tribune bureau chief Walid al-Omari informing him of the closure.
Al-Omari later said the court order charged Tel Aviv Tribune with “incitement and support for terrorism” and that Israeli soldiers confiscated the office’s cameras before leaving.
“Targeting journalists in this way is intended to erase the truth and prevent people from hearing the truth,” he said.
During the raid, Israeli soldiers also tore down posters of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh that were displayed on the walls of the office, al-Omari said.
The raid on the Ramallah office comes five months after Israel shut down the news channel’s operations in occupied East Jerusalem and removed it from cable providers.
“Relentless assault”
In a statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists said it was “deeply alarmed” by the Israeli raid, just months after Israel shut down Tel Aviv Tribune’s operations in Israel after deeming it a threat to national security.
“Israel’s efforts to censor Tel Aviv Tribune seriously undermine the public’s right to information about a war that has upended so many lives in the region,” he said.
“Tel Aviv Tribune journalists must be allowed to do their jobs at this critical time, at all times.”
In a brief statement published on X, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it “denounced Israel’s incessant attack” on Tel Aviv Tribune. RSF had already called for the repeal of an Israeli law that allows the government to close down foreign media in Israel, “targeting the Tel Aviv Tribune channel.”
No witnesses are allowed.
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (@FranceskAlbs) September 22, 2024
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate denounced Israel’s “arbitrary military decision,” calling it “a new aggression against journalistic work and the media.”
“We call on entities and institutions concerned with the rights of journalists to condemn this decision and stop its implementation,” the group said.
The Palestinian Authority said the Israeli operation against Tel Aviv Tribune in Ramallah was “a flagrant violation” of press freedom.
“Attack on freedom of the press”
Tel Aviv Tribune has covered in depth Israel’s nearly year-long military offensive in Gaza, as well as the parallel rise in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, four Tel Aviv Tribune journalists have been killed and the channel’s office in the besieged territory has been bombed. A total of 173 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began last October. Israel says it does not target journalists.
The Qatari government-funded Tel Aviv Tribune channel also rejected accusations that it undermines Israel’s security, calling them a “dangerous and ridiculous lie” that puts its journalists at risk.
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi on Sunday justified the closure of Tel Aviv Tribune’s bureau, calling the network a “mouthpiece” of Gaza’s Hamas and Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah.
“We will continue to fight enemy channels and ensure the safety of our heroic fighters,” he said.
In a statement, however, the Tel Aviv Tribune media network said it “vehemently condemns and denounces this criminal act committed by the Israeli occupation forces.”
“Tel Aviv Tribune rejects the draconian actions and baseless allegations presented by the Israeli authorities to justify these illegal raids,” she said.
“The raid on our offices and seizure of our equipment is not only an attack on Tel Aviv Tribune, but also an affront to press freedom and the very principles of journalism.”
“A larger attack in the West Bank”
Rami Khouri, a Middle East expert at the American University of Beirut, said the closure of Tel Aviv Tribune’s Ramallah bureau is in line with Israel’s policy since 1948 “of preventing real news about the Palestinians.”
“This probably means that there will be a greater wave of Israeli violence throughout the West Bank. And the main instrument for informing the world about what Israel is doing will not be available,” he said.
Mouin Rabbani, a non-resident researcher at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, said the decision to close Tel Aviv Tribune’s Ramallah bureau shows that Israel “clearly has something very serious to hide.”
“In this particular case, if you don’t like the exposure of genocide in the context of an illegal occupation, you shoot the messenger.”