Israeli troops 'tear down Shireen Abu Akleh banner' at Al Jazeera West Bank bureau

Israeli troops tore down a banner of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh at Al Jazeera's bureau in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to the pan-Arab broadcaster.

The bureau was raided by Israeli forces and Al Jazeera aired footage of troops live on its Arabic-language channel ordering the office to be shut for 45 days.

The network later aired what appeared to be Israeli troops tearing down a banner on a balcony used by the Al Jazeera office.

Al Jazeera said it bore an image of Abu Akleh, a celebrated journalist for the news outlet who was killed by Israeli forces in May 2022 as she reported on a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

Al Jazeera's local bureau chief, Walid Al-Omari, later told the AP news agency that the Israeli military cited laws dating back to the British Mandate of Palestine to support its closure order.

In a conversation during the raid broadcast live on Al Jazeera, an Israeli soldier told Al-Omari there was a court ruling to close down the office for 45 days.

"I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment," the soldier is seen as saying in the footage.

"Targeting journalists this way always aims to erase the truth and prevent people from hearing the truth," Al-Omari said.

Al Jazeera called the raid a "criminal act".

It followed an order issued in May that saw Israeli police raid Al Jazeera's broadcast position in occupied East Jerusalem, seizing equipment there, preventing its broadcasts in Israel, and blocking its websites.

The move marked the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country.

However, Al Jazeera has continued operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military acknowledged conducting the raid 12 hours later, claiming without providing evidence that the newsroom was "being used to incite terror, to support terrorist activities and that the channel's broadcasts endanger… security and public order".

Al Jazeera denounced Israel's "unfounded accusations" as it continued broadcasting live from Amman, Jordan, even as Israeli troops welded shut its office doors in Ramallah and confiscated its equipment.

"Al Jazeera will not be intimidated or deterred by efforts to silence its coverage," it said.