Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority had suspended the operations of Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV in the region, including its broadcasts, due to the network’s dissemination of “inflammatory content.”
WAFA said the decision was taken jointly by the ministers of culture, home affairs and communications, as the channel’s broadcast content was “deceptive and inciting conflict”, without providing further details on the subject.
The order said the decision was temporary, but did not specify an end date.
The Palestinian Authority criticized Al Jazeera last week over its coverage of a weeks-long standoff between Palestinian security forces and extremist fighters at the Jenin camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In a statement, Al Jazeera denounced Wednesday’s decision as an “attempt to discourage coverage of spiraling events in the occupied territories.”
They called on the Palestinian Authority to reverse this decision and allow Palestinian journalists to report freely from the West Bank without intimidation.
The decision was not expected to be implemented in Hamas-run Gaza, where the Palestinian Authority does not exercise power.
The Fatah faction, which controls the Palestinian Authority, said the broadcaster was sowing the seeds of division in “the Arab homeland in general and Palestine in particular.” encouraged Palestinians not to cooperate with the network;
In September, Israeli forces raided Al Jazeera’s bureau in the West Bank city of Ramallah and ordered it closed.
In May, Israel issued an order banning the channel from operating and broadcasting in the country, saying it posed a threat to Israel’s national security. The court subsequently upheld the ban.
