West Bank, August 27: Popular Palestinian radio station Bethlehem 2000 said on Wednesday it went off the air after the Israeli army seized its transmitters.
The private radio station said in a statement that Israeli soldiers dismantled and took away the transmitters during a raid on Tuesday night in Beit Jala, just outside Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
The soldiers warned against any attempt to restart broadcasts, the statement said, calling the raid an attack on press freedom.
An army spokesman told AFP that the decision to close the station was taken “by the ministry of telecommunications because transmissions were disrupting communications at Ben Gurion international airport” near Tel Aviv.
“This radio station was closed several times in recent years for the same reason,” the spokesman said.
Created in 1996 and broadcasting a mix of news, music and talks shows, Bethlehem 2000 is among the most popular radio stations in the West Bank.
–Agencies