Israel's Cabinet on Sunday unanimously voted to shut down the country's Al Jazeera, immediately ordering its offices to close and its broadcasts banned.
The decision was announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on X. Hours later, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi released a video on Published. and confiscate the channel's equipment.
Here's everything you need to know about Israel's ban on Al Jazeera and how it will affect coverage of the Gaza war and beyond.
Why did Israel shut down Al Jazeera?
The closure comes a month after Israel's parliament passed a law on April 1 that allows foreign media outlets, including Al Jazeera, to be temporarily shut down if they are deemed a threat to security.
In a previously recorded report, Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, further explained the provisions of the law. Under the law, the Al Jazeera website is banned in Israel. This includes any website, paid or free, stored on Israeli servers or not, with the option to access or access it, as well as any required passwords. Outside Israel,” Khan added.
Additionally, he explained that the Al Jazeera television channel is completely banned in Israel. In the country, cable providers are currently displaying messages saying the network is banned from broadcasting, but some people told Al Jazeera that the channel was still accessible on TV as of Monday afternoon in East Jerusalem. .
Khan added that internet access providers hosting aljazeera.net also “risk being fined if they host the website.”
Akiva Erdal, a political analyst and contributor to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, told Al Jazeera that the government shutdown was “an attempt to feed a beast of public opinion that is deeply disappointed in the government's actions in Gaza and on the international stage.” “It's a very populist move.” ”, adding that this was also “to please our far-right partners”. Netanyahu's government relies on support from a range of far-right parties and leaders, many of whom hold key cabinet positions, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Karhi's office said that in accordance with the law passed on April 1, Al Jazeera will be closed for 45 days, with the closure subject to renewal.
When the law was passed, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he would “act immediately” in accordance with the law to stop Al Jazeera's activities. But the timing of the closure a month later coincides with important negotiations over the war between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt and Qatar, where Al Jazeera is headquartered.
Al Jazeera has been targeted by Israel before. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to close his Jerusalem office in 2017, and in 2021 an Israeli missile destroyed a building housing the broadcaster's offices in Gaza. Many Al Jazeera journalists, and in some cases their families as well. Others have been killed by Israeli shootings and bombings, including during the current war in Gaza.
What was Al Jazeera's reaction?
Al Jazeera issued a statement on Sunday condemning the closure as a “criminal act” and warning that Israel's suppression of press freedom “violates international and humanitarian law.”
Israel closes Al Jazeera office. pic.twitter.com/8gLPtzOu4P
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 5, 2024
The statement further said that Al Jazeera will continue to provide news to viewers around the world.
What does this ban mean for Al Jazeera's reporting?
Al Jazeera correspondents are no longer allowed to report from Israel, including occupied East Jerusalem. Both its headquarters in West Jerusalem and its offices in occupied East Jerusalem were closed and their equipment confiscated.
Carhi said the equipment ordered forfeited included editing and routing equipment, cameras, microphones, servers and laptops, as well as wireless transmission equipment and some mobile phones.
Al Jazeera's Khan added in a pre-recorded report that Israel also bans any equipment used to provide content. “That includes my cell phone. If I use it to do any reporting, the Israelis can easily confiscate it.”
It is unclear how the closure will affect reporting by Al Jazeera correspondents in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, although access to both Palestinian territories is primarily controlled by Israel. Al Jazeera has targeted journalism and condemned previous attacks on journalists and offices seeking to prevent reporting on Israeli attacks on Palestinians, including during the current war.
Why is this important?
Since the start of the war on October 7, Israel has largely blocked foreign journalists from entering Gaza.
This means that Al Jazeera's Gaza correspondent is one of the few members of a major international media organization to bring deadly Israeli shelling and killings in the Palestinian enclave to a global audience.
In February, more than 50 international broadcast journalists signed an open letter to Egyptian and Israeli authorities, calling for “free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media.”
What is the reaction to Al Jazeera's ban?
Journalism advocacy groups and officials around the world condemned the ban, warning it could impede the free flow of information and chill democratic ideals.
Tim Dawson of the International Federation of Journalists said in an interview with Al Jazeera: “Israel values being a democracy, and the idea that an international broadcaster with a considerable reputation and history could be so easily shut down is terrible. I think so.'' “Unfortunately, this is part of a long series of actions that the Israeli government has taken to try to prevent free press on this conflict.”
National Security Adviser John Kirby reiterated Monday at the White House in Washington, D.C., that US President Joe Biden's administration opposes shutting down Israel's Al Jazeera.
“As we made clear on World Press Freedom Day on Friday, we do not support that action,” Kirby explained.
“The work of independent journalism around the world is vitally important. It is important for an informed public and public, but it is also important to help inform policy-making processes. Therefore, we I don’t support that at all.”
The United Nations human rights office also condemned the closure in a post on social media platform X on Sunday.
We regret the Cabinet decision to close Al Jazeera in Israel. Free and independent media are essential to ensure transparency and accountability. Especially given the severe restrictions on reporting from Gaza. Freedom of expression is an important human right.We call on the government to lift the ban
— United Nations Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) May 5, 2024
Greek economist and former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis posted on X on Monday condemning the shutdown. “Israel's banning of Al Jazeera is part of its war on truth. The aim is to keep Israelis from knowing what is happening in Gaza,” he wrote.
Israel's ban on Al Jazeera is part of its war on truth. It is aimed at preventing Israelis from learning that what is happening in their name in Gaza is not self-defense but an all-out genocide. Pogrom of industrial power. Genocide. Support from Western countries and… pic.twitter.com/or2axn5T4V
— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) May 6, 2024
In the It is.
This is why Israel is shutting down Al Jazeera. They don't want us to see what they're doing in Rafah, the last safe haven for Palestinians in Gaza. https://t.co/6koZTp0dQf
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) May 6, 2024
British MP Diane Abbott also condemned the closure in Monday's X Post.
Israel shuts down Al Jazeera TV network. They are desperately trying to cover up the massacre in Gaza.#freepalestine pic.twitter.com/mwceTtjhR1
— Rep. Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) May 6, 2024
What's next?
“Unfortunately, this is not the last step,” Erdal said, speaking to Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.
He said other news outlets could also be shut down by the Israeli government. “We know that there are ministers, including the communications minister, who are looking at other networks, including Israeli channels, that do not satisfy the government.”
In November, Minister of Communications Karhi threatened sanctions against Erdal newspaper Haaretz over its critical coverage of Israel's war in Gaza.
Erdal added that he hopes the law used by the Netanyahu government to shut down Al Jazeera will be challenged in court.
Al Jazeera also called on press freedom and human rights organizations to condemn the closure and is currently considering its future response. In a statement released by the media network on Sunday, he said it would pursue “all available legal avenues to protect both the rights of the media network and its journalists.”