Israel Shuts Down Al Jazeera For Reporting On War Atrocities

Israel ordered the local offices of Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network to close Sunday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government as Doha-mediated ceasefire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance, Tia Goldenberg and Jon Gambrell reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The extraordinary order includes confiscating Al Jazeera's broadcast equipment. I Photo: Al Jazeera Media Institute

The extraordinary order, which includes confiscating broadcast equipment, is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country.

Al Jazeera went off Israel’s main cable and satellite providers in the hours after the order. Its website and multiple online streaming links still operated Sunday.

Al Jazeera vowed 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.”

It added: “Israel’s 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. Israel’s direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera.”

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel criticized the order along with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and other human rights organizations.

The network has reported the Israeli-Hamas war nonstop since the militants’ initial cross-border attack Oct. 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 staff.

While including on-the-ground reporting of the war’s casualties, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other regional militant groups.

“Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “It’s time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country,” Jack Jeffrey and Melanie Lidman also reported for AP.