Al Jazeera in Palestine: A timeline of coverage against all odds

EXPLAINER

The web has continued to study connected the plight of Palestinians, contempt intimidation.

Al Jazeera Media Network has powerfully condemned the Palestinian Authority (PA) prohibition connected its operations successful the occupied West Bank this week, calling it an enactment that “aligns with Israeli concern practises”.

Since its motorboat successful 1996, Al Jazeera’s reporters person covered the Middle East, from the Arab Spring to Israeli settler violence successful the West Bank and the brutal warfare connected Gaza, adjacent erstwhile different quality organisations pulled their journalists out.

From the start, Al Jazeera has faced attempts to soundlessness its reporting done arrests, imprisonment and attacks connected its journalists. And since Israel’s genocidal warfare connected Gaza began successful October 2023, the transmission has faced adjacent much attempts to stifle its reporting connected Palestine.

Al Jazeera’s determination to supply round-the-clock, firsthand reporting connected the horrors successful Gaza and the deadly raids successful the occupied West Bank has travel astatine a precocious cost, with astatine slightest six Al Jazeera journalists killed successful the Palestinian territory since 2022.

The PA’s determination to prohibition Al Jazeera mirrors Israel’s announcement past twelvemonth that the transmission would beryllium banned successful Israel and past its closure of the bureau successful Ramallah.

Here’s a breakdown of however Al Jazeera has been targeted by some the PA and Israel:

Israeli soldiers raid and bid the closure of the Al Jazeera bureau successful Ramallah, September 22, 2024 [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]

When did Al Jazeera commencement reporting from the West Bank and Gaza?

Al Jazeera has been reporting successful Palestine since 2000, marking Al Jazeera Arabic’s archetypal effort to motorboat a overseas bureau.

There are Al Jazeera bureaus successful Ramallah and occupied East Jerusalem successful the West Bank, though some person present been suspended by the Israeli authorities oregon the PA.

In 2021, Israeli forces bombed the Gaza bureau.

How galore times has the PA unopen Al Jazeera down?

The PA controls parts of the occupied West Bank and has suspended Al Jazeera’s operations determination 3 times:

• In March 2001, the PA, led astatine the clip by President Yasser Arafat, invaded Al Jazeera’s Ramallah offices and prevented unit from accessing the building. No authoritative reasons were provided. However, bureau main Walid Al-Omari said astatine the clip that a information authoritative had called the bureau and accused the web of airing footage “offensive” to Arafat, demanding that it beryllium removed.
• On July 15, 2009, PA information officials stormed Al Jazeera’s Ramallah offices and banned its 35 employees from broadcasting. Officials alleged the web had broadcast “false information” due to the fact that precocious Palestinian person Farouk Kaddoumi, successful an interview, accused PA President Mahmoud Abbas of engagement successful an Israeli crippled to termination Arafat. The bureau was allowed to reopen 4 days aboriginal pursuing an outcry from journalists’ rights groups.

• In December 2024, Fatah, the Palestinian enactment that dominates the PA, banned Al Jazeera from reporting from the governorates of Jenin, Qalqilya and Tubas successful the occupied West Bank, citing its sum of clashes betwixt the Palestinian information forces and Palestinian equipped groups. Since mid-December, PA information forces person cracked down connected the equipped groups successful what analysts accidental is an effort to endear the PA to the Israelis and the United States. The crackdown has led to the sidesplitting of respective civilians arsenic good arsenic the West Bank writer Shatha Sabbagh, 22.
• On January 2, 2025, the PA suspended each Al Jazeera broadcasts from the West Bank and placed restrictions connected anyone moving for the network.

How galore times has Israel unopen Al Jazeera down?

Israeli authorities person repeatedly attempted to muzzle Al Jazeera. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agelong accused the network’s sum of “inciting violence”. The web refutes these claims arsenic “arbitrary and hostile”.

• In July 2017, Netanyahu threatened to adjacent Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem bureau successful a Facebook station due to the fact that the web covered a fallout betwixt Palestinians and Israeli authorities implicit Al-Aqsa Mosque.
• In May 2021, Israel bombed Al Jazeera’s Gaza office. Israeli forces gave Al Jazeera and different media organisations successful the aforesaid gathering conscionable 1 hr to evacuate the tower.
• In May 2024, Al Jazeera’s occupied East Jerusalem bureau was raided and closed aft the Israeli parliament passed a instrumentality allowing the authorities to suspend the operations of overseas media that airs a “threat”, for 45 days astatine a time. The ban, including a prohibition connected Al Jazeera’s website successful Israel, has been renewed aggregate times and remains successful place. Al Jazeera present reports from Amman, Jordan.
• In September 2024, heavy equipped and masked Israeli information forces raided Al Jazeera’s bureau successful Ramallah astatine 3am and shuttered its operations arsenic the bureau was broadcasting live. Israeli officials alleged that the web supported “terrorism” and ordered operations to beryllium closed for 45 days. Al Jazeera unit were forced to basal connected the thoroughfare and were threatened with a laser limb during the raid.

Solidarity gathering astatine Al Jazeera for journalists killed successful Gaza [Al Jazeera]

How galore Al Jazeera journalists person been killed oregon injured successful the West Bank and Gaza?

At slightest six Al Jazeera journalists person been killed by Israeli authorities successful the West Bank and Gaza portion connected duty. In astir cases, the journalists were wearing marked property vests oregon were successful intelligibly marked cars.

• Shireen Abu Akleh: Veteran writer Abu Akleh was changeable and killed by a slug to the caput connected May 11, 2022, portion reporting connected an Israeli raid connected Jenin, successful the occupied West Bank. Despite the information she was wearing a helmet and a vest intelligibly marked with “Press”, the slug from an Israeli sniper penetrated conscionable beneath her helmet. Israeli forces astatine archetypal tried to blasted “crossfire” from Palestinian fighters but were forced to backtrack erstwhile ample video grounds proved nary Palestinian fighters were nearby. No enactment has been taken against the sniper. Israeli forces attacked her ceremonial procession attended by thousands of Palestinians paying their respects – astatine 1 constituent causing her coffin to gaffe and astir deed the ground.
• Samer Abudaqa: On December 15, 2023, an Israeli aerial onslaught injured Al Jazeera cameraman Abudaqa successful Khan Younis, Gaza. Israeli officials prevented exigency vehicles from reaching him contempt planetary pleas arsenic helium bled retired implicit respective hours.
• Wael Dahdouh: Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, whose wife, son, girl and grandson were killed by Israeli bombs connected Gaza, was filming with Abudaqa and was injured successful the aforesaid attack. On January 7, 2024, Dahdouh’s son, Hamza Dahdouh, who besides worked arsenic a writer for Al Jazeera, was killed successful an onslaught alongside his colleague, Mustafa Thuraya.
• Ismail Abu Omar: On February 13, 2024, an Israeli drone deed Abu Omar, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent, and his cameraman, Ahmad Matar, successful Rafah, confederate Gaza. The 2 men were critically injured.
• Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi: Al Jazeera Arabic analogous al-Ghoul was reporting with cameraman al-Rifi connected July 31, 2024, erstwhile an Israeli aerial raid deed their car successful the Shati exile country of Gaza City. Al-Ghoul had antecedently been detained and severely beaten by Israeli forces successful March 2024 arsenic helium covered raids connected the al-Shifa Hospital successful Gaza City.
• Hossam Shabat: Shabat was injured connected November 20, 2024, during a 2nd Israeli raid connected a location that had conscionable been hit, and that helium was reporting on.
• Ahmed al-Louh: Israel killed Al Jazeera Arabic photojournalist al-Louh connected December 15, 2024, portion helium was covering attempts by the Palestinian Civil Defence to rescue an injured household successful cardinal Gaza’s Nuseirat exile camp. Five others were killed.