Netanyahu orders news network Al Jazeera to stop work in Israel
This the „rst time Tel Aviv has shuttered a foreign news outlet; the order empowers o†cials to con„scate equipment, prevent the broadcast of the channel’s reports and block its websites; Gaza, West Bank operations remain una‹ected
srael ordered the local o ces of Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network to close on Sunday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government as Doha-mediated ceasere negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance.
The extraordinary order, which includes conscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of reports and blocking its websites, is believed to be the rst time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet.
IThe network has reported the Israeli-Hamas war nonstop since the militants’ initial cross-border attack October 7 and has maintained 24-hour coverage in the Gaza Strip amid
Israel’s grinding ground offensive that has killed and wounded members of its own sta.
“Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement. “It’s time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country.”
Al Jazeera issued a statement vowing it will “pursue all available legal channels through international legal institutions in its quest to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the public’s right to information.”
Banned for 45 days
Israeli media said the order allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days.
“They’re also banning any devices — that includes my mobile phone,” the network’s correspondent, Imran Khan, said.
Al Jazeera went o Israel’s main cable provider in the hours after the order. However, its website and streaming links across multiple online platforms still operated on Sunday.
Heightened tension
The ban did not appear to aect the channel’s operations in the occupied West Bank or Gaza Strip, where Israel wields control but which are not sovereign Israeli territory.
The decision threatens to heighten tensions with Qatar at a time when the Doha government is playing a key role in mediation eorts to halt the war in Gaza, along with Egypt and the United States.