The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Wednesday ordered the suspension of broadcast and all operations by Al Jazeera across the Palestinian territories, accusing the network of airing "inciting content".
The move comes amid accusations of incitement against the channel and its employees, coinciding with an ongoing military operation by PA security forces against Palestinian fighters in Jenin.
"The specialised ministerial committee, comprising the ministries of culture, interior and communications, has decided to suspend broadcasts and freeze all activities of Al Jazeera satellite channel and its office in Palestine," the official Wafa news agency said.
"The decision also includes temporarily freezing the work of all journalists, employees, crews and affiliated channels until their legal status is rectified due to Al Jazeera's violations of the laws and regulations in force in Palestine," the report said.
"This decision comes in response to Al Jazeera's insistence on broadcasting inciting content and reports characterised by misinformation, incitement, sedition and interference in Palestinian internal affairs," it added.
An Al Jazeera employee contacted by °®Âþµº's Arabic language edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed confirmed that the network's office in Ramallah had received a suspension order on Wednesday.
Sources indicated that one of the reasons for the suspension was the Palestinian Authority's anger at Al Jazeera for refusing to label fighters from the Jenin Battalion as "outlaws," as claimed by the PA, which launched a campaign - backed by the Israeli military - against the fighters at the Jenin camp on 6 December.
In recent days, Al Jazeera has been subjected to a campaign of incitement and defamation. The channel has been accused of sowing discord and was forcibly prevented from reporting by Fatah branches in the northern West Bank, as well as by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, which is aligned with the PA.
Online accounts linked to the PA's security apparatus and Fatah have also issued threats of physical harm against Al Jazeera reporters.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority's decision comes more than three months after Israeli forces raided the network's office in Ramallah.