Israel ordered the local offices of QatarB次元官网网址檚 Al Jazeera satellite news network to close Sunday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuB次元官网网址檚 hard-line government as Doha-mediated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance.
The extraordinary order, which includes confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channelB次元官网网址檚 reports and blocking its websites, is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet.
Al Jazeera went off IsraelB次元官网网址檚 main cable provider in the hours after the order. However, its website and streaming links across multiple online platforms still operated Sunday.
The network has reported the Israeli-Hamas war nonstop since the militantsB次元官网网址� initial cross-border attack Oct. 7 and has maintained 24-hour coverage in the Gaza Strip amid IsraelB次元官网网址檚 grinding ground offensive that has killed and wounded members of its own staff. While including on-the-ground reporting of the warB次元官网网址檚 casualties, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region, drawing NetanyahuB次元官网网址檚 ire.
B次元官网网址淎l Jazeera reporters harmed IsraelB次元官网网址檚 security and incited against soldiers,B次元官网网址� Netanyahu said in a statement. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country.B次元官网网址�
Al Jazeera issued a statement vowing it will B次元官网网址減ursue all available legal channels through international legal institutions in its quest to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the publicB次元官网网址檚 right to information.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚sraelB次元官网网址檚 ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law,B次元官网网址� the network said. B次元官网网址淚sraelB次元官网网址檚 direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to cover, whilst more than 140 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war on Gaza.B次元官网网址�
Israeli media said the order allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days.
The Israeli government has taken action against individual reporters over the decades since its founding in 1948, but broadly allows for a rambunctious media scene that includes foreign bureaus from around the world, even from Arab nations. That changed with a law passed last month, which NetanyahuB次元官网网址檚 office says allows the government to take action against a foreign channel seen as B次元官网网址渉arming the country.B次元官网网址�
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Immediately after the announcement, Al JazeeraB次元官网网址檚 English arm began broadcasting a prerecorded message from one of its correspondents from a hotel the channel has used for months in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to one day have for their future state.
B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e also banning any devices B次元官网网址� that includes my mobile phone,B次元官网网址� correspondent Imran Khan said. B次元官网网址淚f I use that to do any kind of newsgathering, then the Israelis can simply confiscate it.B次元官网网址�
The ban did not appear to affect the channelB次元官网网址檚 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 efforts to halt the war in Gaza, along with Egypt and the United States.
Qatar has had strained ties with Netanyahu in particular since he made comments suggesting that Qatar is not exerting enough pressure on Hamas to prompt it to relent in its terms for a truce deal. Qatar hosts Hamas leaders in exile at a political office in Doha.
The sides appear to be close to striking a deal, but multiple previous rounds of talks have ended with no agreement.
In a statement Sunday, Hamas condemned the Israeli government order, calling on international organizations to take measures against Israel.
Shortly after the governmentB次元官网网址檚 decision, Cabinet members from the National Unity party criticized its timing, saying it B次元官网网址渕ay sabotage the efforts to finalize the negotiations and stems from political considerations.B次元官网网址� The party said that in general, it supported the decision.
Israel has long had a rocky relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias. Relations took a major downturn nearly two years ago when Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.
Those relations further deteriorated following the outbreak of IsraelB次元官网网址檚 war against Hamas on Oct. 7, when the militant group carried out a cross-border attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Since then, the Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed over 34,000 people, according to local health officials there, who donB次元官网网址檛 break figures down into civilians and combatants.
In December, an Israeli strike killed an Al Jazeera cameraman as he reported on the war in southern Gaza. The channelB次元官网网址檚 bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, was wounded in the same attack. Dahdouh, a correspondent well-known to Palestinians during many wars, later evacuated Gaza but only after Israeli strikes killed his wife, three of his children and a grandson.
Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the war, broadcasting bloody scenes of airstrikes and overcrowded hospitals and accusing Israel of massacres.
Israel accuses Al Jazeera, funded by QatarB次元官网网址檚 government, of collaborating with Hamas. Criticism of the channel is not new, however. The U.S. government singled out the broadcaster during AmericaB次元官网网址檚 occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and over airing videos of the late al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.
Al Jazeera has been closed or blocked by other Mideast governments. Those include Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain during a yearslong boycott of Doha by the countries amid a yearslong political dispute that ended in 2021.
In 2013, Egyptian authorities raided a luxury hotel used by Al Jazeera as an operating base after the military takeover that followed mass protests against President Mohammed Morsi. The channel was apparently targeted over its constant coverage of Muslim Brotherhood protests over MorsiB次元官网网址檚 ouster.
Three Al-Jazeera staff members, Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received 10-year prison sentences, but were released in 2015 following widespread international criticism.
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Gambrell reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Jack Jeffrey in Jerusalem contributed.
Tia Goldenberg And Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press
