The Israeli Cabinet unanimously decided to immediately suspend network operations in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet has unanimously voted to shut down Al Jazeera's operations in Israel, according to a government statement.
Sunday's cabinet decision came after Israel's parliament passed a law allowing the temporary closure of foreign broadcasters deemed a threat to national security in Israel during the months-long war in Gaza.
Prime Minister Netanyahu announced the decision on X (formerly Twitter). “The government I lead has unanimously decided that the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be shut down in Israel,” he wrote in Hebrew.
In a separate
Karhi also seized Al Jazeera's broadcast equipment “used to distribute the channel's content,” including editing and routing equipment, cameras, microphones, servers, laptops, wireless transmission equipment, and some mobile phones. commanded.
The decision intensifies a long-standing feud between Israel and Al Jazeera. There are also fears of heightened tensions with Qatar, which funds the media network, as Doha plays a key role in mediation efforts to end the war in Gaza.
Israel has long had a rocky relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias and collaboration with Hamas. The Qatar-based network has repeatedly rejected the accusations.
Al Jazeera was one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the war, broadcasting bloody scenes of air raids and overcrowded hospitals, and condemning the massacres committed by Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month ordered “immediate action to end Al Jazeera's operations in Israel” after parliament passed a law giving senior ministers the power to shut down foreign news networks deemed to pose a security risk. “I will.”
“Al Jazeera violated Israel's security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited attacks against Israeli soldiers,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X.
The network accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of “incitement” and said the Israeli leader “is responsible for the security of his staff and network facilities around the world following incitement and false accusations made in this disgraceful manner.” denounced.
Al Jazeera's Zein Basrabi, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was “one of the main reasons why our network exists.”
“So for our journalists and our work to be threatened in this way…Certainly what we're worried about here in the occupied West Bank is that we're not going to be next. I mean,” he said.