Israel raids Palestinian TV station

Ramallah : Israeli forces raided the West Bank offices of Palestine Today television overnight and arrested its manager over allegations of inciting violence, Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency said on Friday.

The operation targeting the station's Ramallah offices was the latest attempt to silence Palestinian broadcasters.  

The Shin Bet charged that the channel "broadcasts on behalf of the Islamic Jihad" militant group and said it had closed it in a joint operation with the army.

"The channel served the Islamic Jihad as a central means to incite the West Bank population, calling for terror attacks against Israel and its citizens. Incitement was broadcast on the television station as well as the Internet," it said in a statement.

Israeli forces arrested Palestine Today manager, Farooq Aliat, 34, of Bir Zeit, north of Ramallah, "an Islamic Jihad operative who had been imprisoned in Israel for his activities," it added. 

Cameraman Mohammed Amr and technician Shabib Shabib were also arrested, the Palestinian Journalists Union said. 

An army spokeswoman said technical equipment and transmitters were confiscated from the Ramallah offices, which were ordered shut.

The channel continues to broadcast from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Islamic Jihad denounced the "Israeli aggression against the nationalist media of the resistance," calling the raid "another episode in the long saga of oppression by the occupation."

A wave of violence has killed 188 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese since October 1, according to an AFP count.

Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have fed the unrest.

Israel blames incitement by Palestinian leaders and media as a main cause of the violence.

On Thursday, Israel's security cabinet discussed ways to tackle the unrest, including "closing Palestinian broadcasters inciting to terror," the prime minister's office said. 

In November, Israel shut down two radio stations in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron -- Al-Hurria and Al-Khalil -- accusing them of fanning the violence.