IDF shutters Hebron radio station in crackdown on incitement

Israel Defense Forces troops raided a Palestinian radio station in the West Bank city of Hebron overnight Friday, as Israel clamped down on sources of incitement after a resumption of deadly terror attacks on its citizens.

Palestinian sources said that the IDF troops entered the studios of Radio al-Khalil overnight, confiscating equipment and leaving behind a notice announcing the closure of the station for six months, Israel’s Ynet news website reported. The notice was signed by the GOC of the Central Command, Major General Roni Numa. Al-Khalil is the Arabic name for Hebron.

The IDF Spokesman’s Unit on Saturday confirmed the closure, calling it a joint operation by the IDF, the Shin Bet security service and the IDF Civil Administration, the Hebrew-language Walla website said.

“The action was taken after broadcasts containing incitement were aired by the station,” said the army in a statement.

The radio station serves the local area, including Dura, the hometown of the terrorist who killed two people in Tel Aviv on Thursday. The Hebron region has seen dozens of Palestinian attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in recent weeks, most of them stabbing incidents.

Earlier this month, soldiers and Civil Administration officials raided another Palestinian radio station in Hebron, after it aired what the army called “incitement” to deadly attacks against Israelis.

Broadcast equipment was seized in the raid on the offices of the al-Huriya station over its broadcasts of support for the stabbing of Israelis in the West Bank city.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said after the November 3 raid that “the army will continue to take all legal steps available to it against the attackers and their accomplices in order to ensure security for the residents of the State of Israel.”