Palestinian Authority suspends broadcast of Qatar's Al Jazeera TV temporarily

10:24 am on 2 January 2025
An image grab from footage distributed by the Doha-based Al-Jazeera TV on September 22, 2024 shows an Israeli soldier speaking with Walid Al-Omari, bureau chief of Al Jazeera in Jerusalem and Ramallah, upon entering Al Jazeera's office in Ramallah, in the West Bank to issue a 45-day closure order on September 21. (Photo by AL JAZEERA / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / AL-JAZEERA" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Footage shows Israeli soldiers entering Al Jazeera's office in Ramallah in September. Photo: AFP PHOTO / AL-JAZEERA

The Palestinian Authority has suspended the broadcast of Qatar's Al Jazeera TV temporarily over "inciting material," the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reports.

A ministerial committee that includes the culture, interior and communications ministries decided to suspend the broadcaster's operations over what they described as broadcasting "inciting material and reports that were deceiving and stirring strife".

The decision is not expected to be implemented in Hamas-run Gaza, where the Palestinian Authority does not exercise power.

Al Jazeera TV last week came under criticism by the Palestinian Authority over its coverage of the weeks-long standoff between Palestinian security forces and militant fighters in the Jenin camp in the occupied West Bank.

Fatah, the faction which controls the Palestinian Authority, said the broadcaster was sowing division in "our Arab homeland in general and in Palestine in particular". It encouraged Palestinians not to cooperate with the network.

Israeli forces in September issued Al Jazeera with a military order to shut down operations, after they raided the outlet's bureau in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

- Reuters

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