Israeli forces raid Al Jazeera office in West Bank, order 45-day closure

Qatar-based pan-Arab news network Al Jazeera said that Israeli forces raided its office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and issued a 45-day closure order. Israel's government last week announced it was revoking the press credentials of Al Jazeera journalists, four months after banning the channel from operating inside Israel. The Israeli parliament passed a law in early April allowing the banning of foreign media broadcasts deemed harmful to state security. Based on this law, the Israeli government approved on May 5 the decision to ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting from Israel and close its offices for a renewable 45-day period, which was extended for a fourth time by a Tel Aviv court last week.