The Palestinian Authority says it has suspended broadcasting by the prominent Arab channel Al Jazeera in parts of the occupied West Bank, citing incitement and bias.
Qatari-owned Al Jazeera expressed shock and denounced the decision as "an attempt to hide the truth about events in the occupied territories".
It links the closure to news coverage of the recent major crackdown by Palestinian security forces on armed Islamist groups in Jenin refugee camp where at least 11 people have been killed.
Al Jazeera, which is widely watched by Palestinians particularly for its exhaustive coverage of the Gaza war, has already been stopped in Arabic and English in Israel.[BBC]
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The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called on the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to restore the operation of the Al Jazeera channel and comply with its obligations under international law.
ReplyDeleteIn a post on the social network X the OHCHR said it was deeply concerned that the PNA had suspended the operation of Al Jazeera channel and its reporters in the West Bank and called on the PNA to revise its attitude and respect its obligations under international law.
Earlier it was reported that the PNA had suspended the broadcasting of the Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera in Palestine.
For at least the past three weeks, the TV channel has been covering clashes between the PNA security forces and supporters of radical Palestinian movements in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. During this period, representatives of Hamas, which is an opponent of the more moderate Fatah movement, which controls the West Bank, have repeatedly appeared on Al Jazeera to criticize the PNA and call for anti-government demonstrations in the territories under its control.