The Palestinian Authority has ordered the suspension of broadcasts by Qatar-based Al Jazeera and on Thursday accused it of incitement, which the news channel compared to Israeli practices.
Al Jazeera is already banned from broadcasting from Israel amid a long-running feud with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
In September, armed and masked Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah also raided the Al Jazeera office, saying it was “used to incite terror.”
The military issued an initial 45-day closure order, prompting the Palestinian foreign ministry at the time to condemn “a flagrant violation” of press freedom.
On Thursday, the PA insisted its own suspension measure was “temporary,” adding its decision followed a complaint from the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate concerning the network’s coverage.
“These measures shall be applied until Al Jazeera chooses to act in accordance with basic media ethics, including its duty to prevent deliberate disinformation, ban the glorification of violence, and end the incitement to armed mutiny,” the PA said.
The syndicate, which represents about 3,000 Palestinian journalists, said several had filed complaints against Al Jazeera for “biased media coverage on its platforms, including incitement, misleading reports, and content that stirs internal discord”.
The PA’s decision includes “temporarily freezing the work of all journalists, employees, crews and affiliated channels until their legal status is rectified due to Al Jazeera’s violations of the laws and regulations in force in Palestine”, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported late Wednesday.
The channel aired images of what appeared to be Palestinian security officers entering the network’s office in Ramallah and handing over the suspension orders.
Al Jazeera condemned the decision, saying it “aligns with Israeli occupation practices targeting its media teams”.
It accused the PA, which has partial administrative control in the West Bank, of “attempting to deter Al Jazeera from covering escalating events in the occupied Palestinian territories” including in Jenin and its refugee camp.
The PA’s security forces have been engaged in weeks of deadly clashes with armed militants in Jenin, in the northern West Bank.
Tensions over coverage
Militant group Hamas, rivals of Fatah which dominates the PA, condemned the decision to ban the network.
“This decision aligns with a series of recent arbitrary actions taken by the Authority to curtail public rights and freedoms, and to reinforce its security grip on the Palestinian people,” Hamas said in a statement.
“We call on the Palestinian Authority to immediately reverse this decision … It is crucial to ensure the continuation of media coverage that exposes the occupation and supports the steadfastness of our people.”
Islamic Jihad, allied with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, also criticised the decision.
“We condemn the authority’s decision to close Al Jazeera’s office in Palestine when our people and our cause are in dire need to convey their suffering to the world,” the group said in a statement.
Tensions between the network and the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas have risen in recent weeks following the channel’s coverage of the clashes in Jenin.
In late December, the channel condemned what it said was an “incitement campaign” by Fatah against the network in some areas of the occupied West Bank.
“This campaign follows the network’s coverage of clashes between Palestinian security forces and resistance fighters in Jenin,” it said in a statement at the time.
The security forces of the PA have been engaged in deadly clashes with gunmen since early December, triggered by the arrests of several militants.
They are fighting members of the Jenin Battalion, most of whom are affiliated with either Islamic Jihad or Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.
Fatah’s rivals have accused PA forces of aiding Israel.
Al Jazeera continues to work in Gaza, where Hamas seized control in 2007.
The violence in Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of armed groups and a frequent target of Israeli military raids, has killed 11 people including PA security personnel, militants and civilians.