On live television, heavily armed Israeli soldiers raided Al Jazeera’s occupied West Bank bureau in Ramallah and handed the bureau head, Walid al-Omari, a notice to shut it down.The soldiers ordered everyone working the overnight shift at the bureau to leave, telling them they could take only their personal belongings.
What happened and why? Here’s everything we know:
Who closed the bureau?
The order came from the Israeli military authority despite the bureau being in Area A, an area delineated as being under Palestinian control in the Oslo Accords.
Wait, so if Ramallah is under Palestinian control, how can Israel do this?
This is not the first time Israel has undertaken actions in the Oslo Accords-defined Area A, where Ramallah is and where the Palestinian Authority (PA) has its seat.
One year ago, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland reported that, just between June and September last year, there had been many Palestinian casualties caused by Israeli operations in Area A.
The other two areas in the occupied West Bank are Area B, which the PA also administers on paper, sharing security control with Israel. Area C is under complete Israeli control.
Regardless of legal jurisdiction, Israel has acted with impunity across the occupied West Bank.
Why did Israel raid the bureau?
Israel has often targeted Al Jazeera and its journalists, at times going as far as killing them – as it did Shi …