On Wednesday, January 1, 2025, the Palestinian Authority suspended Al Jazeera's broadcasts and froze its operations in Palestine. This decision, announced by a ministerial committee and reported by WAFA, will remain in effect until the channel rectifies its legal status within the Palestinian territories.

Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) strongly condemned the Palestinian Authority's decision to suspend Al Jazeera, describing it as a direct attack on press freedom and a blatant violation of basic human rights, particularly the right to freedom of expression. This move, announced amidst New Year's celebrations, is deeply concerning.

WJWC expressed further concern, noting that this action coincides with a worrying increase in human rights violations in the West Bank perpetrated by Palestinian Authority agencies, Israeli settlers, and the occupying forces.

This step follows a recent campaign by Palestinian Authority security forces in Jenin that has been marred by serious human rights violations, including the tragic killing of journalist Shatha al-Sabbagh on December 28th

WJWC has highlighted the Palestinian Authority's attempts to deflect blame for the killing of journalist Shaza Al-Sabbagh. However, Al-Sabbagh's family, speaking through Al Jazeera, directly held the Palestinian Authority responsible for her death.

According to Al Jazeera, the decision came after an incitement campaign issued in the name of the Fatah movement in the West Bank against Al Jazeera and its journalists, following the coverage of clashes between Palestinian security forces and Palestinian resistance members in Jenin.

Notably, in September 2024, Al Jazeera's office in Ramallah, in the West Bank, was shut down by the occupation authority on military orders. The 'Al Jazeera Law,' a law proposed by Netanyahu and approved by the Israeli Knesset months earlier, gives the occupation government's prime minister and communications minister the authority to "ban foreign media outlets that harm state security, foremost among them being Al Jazeera."

Similar claims were made by the Palestinian Authority committee to justify its decision to suspend Al Jazeera's staff and cease broadcasting the channel, stating that it insisted on 'broadcasting incitement materials and reports that are misleading, incite sedition, tamper with, and interfere in Palestinian internal affairs,' according to WJWC.

Women journalists Without Chains believes that the Palestinian Authority's decision to suspend Al Jazeera yesterday, Wednesday, and the occupation authorities' previous ban on Al Jazeera are repressive measures meant to silence voices and withhold information from the public about the genocide committed by the occupation forces in the Gaza Strip, where more than 200 journalists were killed during the 14-month war—more than twice as many as were killed during World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War.

Women Journalists Without Chains emphasized the importance of media organizations dedicated to freedom and human rights, as well as the employees who risk their lives to provide the public with information and facts during emergencies. The suspension of Al Jazeera and its employees by the Palestinian Authority is viewed by the organization as a clear violation of press freedom and the right to free speech.

WJWC calls on the international community to pressure the occupation authorities to halt their arbitrary decision against Al Jazeera Network, swiftly investigate the violations that journalists endured during the genocide in the Gaza Strip, and ensure that those responsible are held accountable. The organization also demands that the Palestinian Authority immediately revoke their decision."