Israeli troops raid West Bank TV stations, confiscate computers and equipment

Israeli troops raided two Palestinian television stations in the West Bank city of Ramallah overnight, seizing computers and broadcasting equipment, employees told AFP on Wednesday.

The two stations affected were al-Watan TV, a local private station, and al-Quds Educational TV, affiliated with the Palestinian al-Quds University, according to AFP.

Director of al-Watan TV, Muammar Orabi, said about 30 soldiers raided station in the city of Ramallah before dawn Wednesday. The TV is an outlet for Palestinian citizens groups, according to The Associated Press.

Orabi said an Israeli officer told station employees to “say hello to Khader Adnan.”

Adnan is a Palestinian detainee who waged a hunger strike for more than two months to protest being held without formal charges.

Ahmed Milhem, an employee at al-Watan, said soldiers gave no reason for the raid, which began at 0200 a.m. (1200 GMT) and lasted for three hours.

“They seized computers, broadcast equipment and administrative files,” Milhem told Reuters by telephone. ‘The station is now off the air,” he added, according to Reuters.

The television station is owned by local non-governmental organizations and broadcasts local news and cultural and political programs over the Internet.

Haroun Abu Arra, director of al-Quds TV, said troops raided his station shortly afterwards.

“At 3:00 am (0100 GMT), the Israeli army entered the television station's office and took all the transmitters, and the station is now unable to broadcast,” he told AFP.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she had no initial information but was checking for details.

Ramallah is the base of the Palestinian Authority, which Israel has accused of not doing enough to fight incitement against the Jewish state. The Palestinians say Israeli raids undermine their authority over West Bank areas under their civilian control.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in late 2010 amid differences over Israel’s settlement building and there appears to be little prospect of them being restarted soon.

Journalists said they would hold a demonstration in Ramallah’s central square later on Wednesday to protest against the raids.