The Israel Journalists’ Union has condemned the “troubling and disturbing” Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) raid on Al Jazeera’s offices in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, and the serving of a 45-day closure order.

“The closure was done by military order, based on a confidential opinion, and it is not possible to know what is behind the decision to close the offices,” the Israeli Journalists’ Union said in a statement.

The raid was videotaped and also published by the IDF “in what appears to be a PR stunt and nothing more,” the statement continued.

The Israel Journalists Association stresses that such moves should be supported by political authorities, who can guarantee due legal process, noting that the raid “should concern every journalist and every citizen in a democratic country.”

In the early hours of Sunday, Al Jazeera reported that the Israeli armed forces raided his office in Ramallah, where they served his employees present with a court order to close the facility for 45 days.

A soldier told Palestinian journalist Walid al-Omari that “there is a (Israeli) judicial decision to shut down Al Jazeera for 45 days,” a scene broadcast live by the Qatari television network. “I ask you to take all your cameras and leave the office immediately,” the soldier added.

The footage broadcast by the network shows soldiers heavily armed and with their faces covered.

Al Jazeera yesterday described this raid by the Israeli armed forces on its offices in Ramallah as “criminal”, saying that this “is not only an attack” against it, “but an insult to the freedom of the press and the values ​​of journalism”.

For its part, the Israeli military announced that Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah was “being used to incite terrorism.”