Israel raids Al Jazeera's West Bank bureau, hands out 45-day closure order

According to a BBC report, masked Israeli forces holding weapons barged into Al Jazeera's West Bank offices during a live broadcast on Sunday.

Viewers watched as the troops handed a closure order to the network's West Bank bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, who read it out on air.

Israel had raided Al Jazeera's offices in Nazareth and East Jerusalem in May, asserting that the Qatar-based broadcaster was a national security threat.

Al Jazeera journalist Mohammad Alsaafin reported that the soldiers confiscated the last microphone and camera outside the office and forced Omari out.

They also tore down a poster of Shireen Abu Aqla, a Palestinian-American Al Jazeera reporter killed during an Israeli raid in the West Bank, the repport said.

Though Israel initially blamed Palestinian fire for her death, they later admitted a high likelihood that an Israeli soldier was responsible.

Relations between Al Jazeera and Israel have long been strained, hit severely since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

With foreign journalists barred from entering Gaza, Al Jazeera reporters have been among the few able to cover the conflict on the ground, the BBC report said.

Israel has frequently labelled the network a "terrorist mouthpiece," a claim Al Jazeera denies.

In April, Israel passed a law allowing the government to temporarily close foreign broadcasters deemed a threat to national security during wartime.

These bans can last 45 days and be renewed, as demonstrated in Sunday's raid. Earlier in May, Al Jazeera's offices in Nazareth and East Jerusalem were also raided. Israel has not commented on the latest operation.