Israel Shuts Down Palestinian TV in Raid
Israeli security forces and intelligence officers raided a Palestinian television station overnight and took computers, tapes, transmitters and paperwork, the director of the station said Wednesday.
The raid began at 2 a.m., Wattan TV director Muamar Orabi said.
“Four night-shift employees were detained for more than three hours inside the offices after their mobile phones were taken,” he added.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the raid had taken place.
Israeli Ministry of Communications spokesman Yehiel Shavi said Wattan broadcasts “were interfering with the signals of Israeli broadcasters” and said the interference had been stopped “with the assistance of the IDF.”
The IDF said repeated requests had been made to Wattan to stop their broadcasts because they interfere with Israeli broadcasters and flight communications at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.
But Orabi said his station had never received a complaint about transmission frequencies, and said the response was disproportionate even if that was the reason for the raid.