Israeli soldiers raid Al Jazeera office in West Bank, order 45-day closure

Al Jazeera aired live footage of Israeli soldiers storming its office and handing the closure order to one of its TV staffers. The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate condemned the move by Israeli soldiers.

In Short

• Live footage showed troops handing closure order
• Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate condemned the move
• Previous raid in May targeted Al Jazeera's Jerusalem office

Qatari Al Jazeera TV said on Sunday morning that Israeli forces stormed its bureau in the West Bank's Ramallah city with a military order to close it for 45 days.

The Qatar-based channel aired live footage of the Israeli troops storming the channel's office and handing over a military closure order to one of the Al Jazeera TV staff before the broadcast was disrupted.

In a statement, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate condemned the Israeli move, saying "this arbitrary military decision is considered a new violation against journalistic and media works, which has been exposing the occupation's crimes against the Palestinian people."

In May, Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office after the government decided to shut down the AL Jazeera TV station's local operations, saying it threatened national security.