The Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, ordered the shutdown of all offices of the Palestinian radio station ‘Voice of Palestine’ on 20 March in occupied East Jerusalem, according to a report published by Anadolu Agency.
The office of the National Security minister issued a statement the same day, arguing that the closure was justified due to an incitement of violence against Israel via the radio station.
“I will not accept, and we will not allow incitement and support for terrorism and terrorists, neither by the Palestinian Authority nor by any other body,” Gvir said.
‘Voice of Palestine’ is based in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. It is a subsidiary Broadcasting Corporation under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
In addition, Israeli authorities summoned the staff of the radio channel for questioning, according to Anadolu Agency.
However, the move to shut down the Palestinian press and communication is not new. In 2019 Israeli authorities shut down the offices of Palestine TV, citing similar reasons for the move.
In 2021, Israeli forces even bombed and destroyed a building in Gaza, which housed several media offices, including Al Jazeera and the Associated Press (AP).
“The attack on the building that we have seen is shocking and, it seems to me, a catastrophic attempt to shut down media, to silence criticism, and worst of all, to create a cloak of secrecy around this conflict,” said Aiden White, founder of the Ethical Journalism Network.
At the time, Israel justified the destruction of the Al-Jalaa building on the grounds that it was used by the Hamas resistance group but failed to provide evidence for the claim, which was rejected. Although the story garnered international attention, it was quickly silenced.
Meanwhile, Jordan accused Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of violating the 1994 peace treaty after he gave a speech in front of a podium featuring a map that included Jordan, parts of Syria and Saudi Arabia, and the occupied Palestinian territories as part of Israel.
Amman also summoned the Israeli ambassador on 20 March to protest over hateful remarks made by Smotrich during his speech in Paris, in which he said that “there is no such thing as Palestinians because there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.”