05/05/2024 – 11:43
The measure was unanimously approved by the government in Tel Aviv and takes effect immediately, according to the Ministry of Communications. As a result, the channel controlled by the Qatari monarchy is prevented from operating locally. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government office announced this Sunday (05/05) the suspension of operations on Israeli soil by the Arab TV channel Al Jazeera, controlled by the Qatari monarchy. Qatar.
The decision comes after a law approved by the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, which authorizes the closure of foreign broadcasters that threaten national security in the face of the war that the country is waging against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. And, according to the Ministry of Communications, it will take effect immediately.
According to the Israeli press, the government’s decision could suspend the station’s transmission for 45 days, a period that can be extended.
The measure includes the closure of the company’s offices in Israel, the confiscation of broadcasting equipment, the cutting of cable and satellite signals and the blocking of websites. It is unclear, however, whether the broadcaster’s activities in the occupied West Bank were also affected.
On X (formerly Twitter), Netanyahu stated that the decision was “unanimous”. The channel is accused by the Israeli government of promoting “unrest” and providing biased coverage.
Already tense relationship worsened with the war in Gaza
Israel has a tense relationship with the Qatari media organization, whose coverage of the war in Gaza has focused especially on the Palestinian side. Israel accuses the channel of working in partnership with Hamas and promoting the radical Islamic group that controls the Gaza Strip.
One of the few press outlets that continued to operate in Gaza after the start of the conflict, on October 7, Al Jazeera broadcast images and videos of deadly aerial bombardments and crowded hospitals under Israeli fire. It also frequently showed images of Hamas fighters and attacks on Israeli soldiers.
The Qatari broadcaster was founded in 1996 and stood out internationally for its critical coverage of the Arab world.
The Qatari government has been mediating negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Before the war broke out, the country was one of the most important financial supporters of the group, which is considered a terrorist organization by several Western countries. There are Hamas leaders living in the capital of the Arab kingdom, in Doha.
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Al Jazeera’s senior correspondent in Israel, Imran Khan stated that the blockage affected not only the broadcaster, but also the website. According to the journalist, devices used in the company’s work were also affected by the decision, which means that your phone could also be confiscated by the authorities.
“It’s a broad ban and we don’t know how long it will be in effect,” said Khan in a statement published on the Al Jazeera website.
Head of the broadcaster’s regional office, Waleed Omari, said that the company will legally appeal the decision, which is “neither professional nor journalistic”, but rather “political”.
The measure also does not have the support of the United States and Germany, Israel’s closest allies.
The blockade was also criticized by Hamas, which spoke of a “blatant violation of press freedom” and an effort to hide the “truth” of the Gaza war.
The group, which led the unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that triggered the current conflict, said in a statement that the decision to close the news channel was “a repressive and retaliatory measure against Al Jazeera’s professional role in exposing crimes and violations” in Gaza, and “represents the culmination of the war declared against journalists (…) with the aim of hiding the truth”.
Until the beginning of May, the International Committee to Protect Journalists counted 97 press professionals killed since the start of the war, 92 of them Palestinians. Several of them were Al Jazeera employees.
Before that, in May 2022, the death of Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh during the broadcaster’s coverage of an Israeli operation in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank scandalized public opinion around the globe. Al Jazeera blamed Israeli military personnel for the death and took the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Israel denies the accusation.
ra/md (Reuters, AP, AFP, DPA, KNA, ots)
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