Al Jazeera has accused the Palestinian Authority of trying to “hide the truth” about its crackdown on militants in the occupied West Bank after officials suspended the Qatari broadcaster’s operations in the territory.
The PA accused Al Jazeera of spreading hate speech and disinformation, saying the “temporary” suspension would remain in place until it “addresses its legal status, which was deemed in violation of applicable laws and regulations in Palestine”.
But Al Jazeera — one of the biggest and most influential broadcasters in the Arab world — said the PA’s move was a response to its coverage of a weeks-long crackdown by the PA on militants in the West Bank, particularly in the restive refugee camp in the northern city of Jenin.
“This decision [is] nothing but an attempt to dissuade the channel from covering the rapidly escalating events taking place in the occupied territories,” Al Jazeera said in a statement on Thursday, accusing the PA of reinforcing Israel’s own campaign against the broadcaster.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government banned Al Jazeera from operating in Israel in May, and in September Israeli forces raided the network’s bureau in the West Bank city of Ramallah, ordering it to close for 45 days. Israel said it had taken the steps to protect national security. Al Jazeera accused it of attempting to muzzle the network and its coverage of the war in Gaza.
Al Jazeera has reported extensively on the clashes in Jenin — long one of the main West Bank strongholds of Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad — since they began early last month.
The operation has been widely interpreted as an attempt by the PA, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank, to show that it has the capabilities to take on a role in administering Gaza once the war between Israel and Hamas in the enclave is over.
The PA ran Gaza until it was ousted from the territory by Hamas in 2007, and the US, Arab and European countries have been pushing for it to play a key role in the strip when the conflict ends. However, Israel’s far-right government has repeatedly said it will not accept this.
The Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said last month that the crackdown in the West Bank was an attempt to restore order and security “on the way towards the creation of an independent state”.
However, residents have criticised the PA’s approach, accusing it of adopting similar tactics to Israel’s military, which routinely carries out destructive raids in West Bank cities such as Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem.
According to the latest data from OCHA, the UN’s humanitarian office, eight Palestinians have been killed during the crackdown, including four unarmed Palestinians, three members of the Palestinian forces and one armed Palestinian.
OCHA said at least three of the unarmed people had been killed by Palestinian security forces.
The agency said last month that the operation raised “concerns about several serious violations of international human rights law, including unlawful killing through the unnecessary and excessive use of force”.
It called for the PA to carry out an investigation and “hold to account those responsible for gross violations of international human rights law”.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, with Israeli forces drastically ramping up their operations in the territory. In the 15 months since, Israeli troops have killed more than 780 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to OCHA’s latest figures, while Palestinians have killed 25 Israelis.
