Palestinian Authority arrests Al Jazeera correspondent Jivara al-Badri near Ofer prison

On Sunday evening, Palestinian security forces arrested Al Jazeera correspondent Jivara al-Badri and members of the channel's crew near Ofer Prison, located on the lands of the city of Beitunia, west of Ramallah, and they were transferred to the Balou' police station for investigation.

The arrest included the channel’s correspondent, Jivara al-Badri, in addition to two of her accompanying crew members. The network’s crew was conducting media coverage near Ofer Prison, where the Al Jazeera correspondent conducted a live intervention minutes before the crew was arrested.

The crew's arrest comes after the Palestinian security services arrested, on Sunday, a photojournalist and an Associated Press worker, and detained them for about two hours before releasing them.

The arrest also took place in the vicinity of Ofer Israeli prison, while they were covering the atmosphere of waiting to receive the prisoners, both male and female, released as part of the exchange deal.

The journalists were accused of broadcasting live images through Al Jazeera.

It is noteworthy that the Palestinian Authority had announced on the first of this month the suspension of broadcasting and freezing of all the work of Al Jazeera satellite channel and its office in Palestine, and the temporary freezing of the work of all journalists, employees, crews and channels affiliated with it, until its legal status is rectified.

The committee pointed out that this is due to the satellite channel violating the laws and regulations in force in Palestine.

According to a statement published at the time by the official Palestinian news agency (WAFA), this decision came as a result of what was described as “Al Jazeera’s insistence on broadcasting incitement material and reports characterised by misleading, sedition, tampering and interference in Palestinian internal affairs.”

However, according to sources, one of the reasons for the authority’s anger at the channel comes after the channel refused to describe the resistance fighters in the “Jenin Battalion” affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, as “outlaws,” according to the authority’s claims.

(New Arab)