TEL AVIV – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned on Sunday that his executive has voted unanimously to close down the native offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, escalating Israel’s long-running feud with the channel at a time when cease-fire negotiations with Hamas — mediated through Qatar — are gaining steam.
Netanyahu introduced the verdict on X, previously Twitter, however main points at the implications of the step at the channel, when it might pass into impact or whether or not the measure was once everlasting or transient weren’t right away transparent.
“My government decided unanimously: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will close in Israel,” Netanyahu posted on X. Al Jazeera has vehemently denied that it incites in opposition to Israel.
There was once no instant remark from the channel headquarters in the Qatari capital of Doha. But a number of Al Jazeera correspondents went on air to give their working out on how the verdict would impact the channel.
An Al Jazeera correspondent on its Arabic carrier mentioned the order would impact the broadcaster’s operations in Israel and in east Jerusalem, the place it’s been doing are living photographs for months for the reason that Oct. 7 assault that sparked the warfare in Gaza.
It would now not impact Al Jazeera’s operations in the Palestinian territories, the correspondent mentioned.
Another correspondent, on Al Jazeera’s English channel, mentioned the order barred the channel from “holding offices or operating them” in Israel. He mentioned the broadcaster’s internet sites can be blocked, regardless that they have been nonetheless obtainable through Sunday afternoon in Jerusalem.
Israeli media mentioned the vote lets in Israel to block the channel from running in the rustic for 45 days, in accordance to the verdict. Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi mentioned in a video posted to X that the channel’s “equipment will be confiscated.”
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.
The sides appear to be close to striking a deal, but multiple previous rounds of talks have ended with no agreement.
Israel has lengthy had a rocky dating with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias. Relations took a significant downturn just about two years in the past when Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was once killed all the way through an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank.
Those relations further deteriorated following the outbreak of Israel’s 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.
In December, an Israeli strike killed an Al Jazeera cameraman as he reported at the warfare in southern Gaza. The channel’s bureau leader in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, was once injured in the similar assault.
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 of collaborating with Hamas.
Al Jazeera, which is funded by Qatar’s government, did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment.
While Al Jazeera’s English operation often resembles the programming found on other major broadcast networks, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region. It similarly came under harsh U.S. criticism during America’s occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled director Saddam Hussein.
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.
Sunday’s development immediately recalled Egypt’s shutdown of Al Jazeera after the country’s 2013 military takeover following mass protests against President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group. The channel covered many of the Brotherhood’s protests live, to the anger of Egypt’s military government. At the time, Egyptian security forces raided a luxury hotel the channel operated out of, arresting its correspondents.
Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received 10-year prison sentences, but were later released in 2015 amid widespread international criticism.
Egypt considers the Brotherhood a terrorist group and accused both Qatar and Al Jazeera of supporting it.
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Gambrell reported from Jerusalem.
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