Israeli forces stormed Qatari news channel Al Jazeera's office in the West Bank city of Ramallah on early Sunday (September 22), its bureau chief Walid Omari said.

Speaking to Reuters just outside their office entrance, which had been sealed off with a metal panel, Omari said that the raid happened around 3 a.m. (0000 GMT) local time, when Israeli forces blocked off the surrounding street and destroyed the office's main entrance.

"After that they evacuated us and stopped us from doing our work, and then handed us an order that the office will be closed for 45 days," he said.

Armored vehicles and Israeli troops could be seen patrolling the area outside the building.

In May, Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office after the government decided to shut down the AL Jazeera TV station's local operations, saying it threatened national security.