Al Jazeera has been a thorn in the side of the Israeli government for some time. The channel, which reports critically on the war in Gaza, would turn its viewers against Israel.
“The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel,” Netanyahu wrote on X. “I intend to take immediate action in accordance with the new law to halt the channel's activities.”
Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets still broadcasting live from Gaza. It has an office there, as well as in the occupied West Bank.
The channel is funded by the Qatari government, but says it operates independently. Doha would have no influence on reporting, but critics say Al Jazeera does reflect Qatar's foreign policy.
The Gulf state has intensive contacts with Hamas and houses the militant terrorist group's political leaders, including its chief executive, Yahya Sinwar.
The Israeli desire to tackle Al Jazeera's offices in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories has been going on for some time. Shortly after Hamas's attack on October 7, the Israeli government also approved temporary rules temporarily shutting down foreign media deemed "a threat to its national interest." Cabinet members said at the time that they hoped that the rules would be used against Al Jazeera.
Moreover, the American news channel Axios reported last year that the American Secretary of State, during a visit to Qatar, had asked "to tone down Al Jazeera's rhetoric about the war in Gaza." Al Jazeera's broadcasts are said to be full of "anti-Israel incitement". Secretary Blinken is said to have referred to Al Jazeera Arabic and not Al Jazeera English, the English-language branch of the station.
But America does not support a ban on the channel. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre says that if it is true that Israel wants to close Al Jazeera in Israel, this would be "very concerning."
“We believe in the freedom of the press. It is critical and the United States supports the vital work of journalists around the world, including those covering the conflict in Gaza,” Jean-Pierre said. "Freedom of the press is important. If these reports are true, it is worrying for us." Reporting independently on the war in Gaza is becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous. Since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war between Israel in Hamas, 95 journalists and media company employees have been killed in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Of them, 90 are Palestinian, 2 Israeli and 3 Lebanese. NRC counted even more deaths last week: 103.
The journalistic organization Journalists Without Borders (RSF) accuses the Israeli army of deliberately attacking journalists to intimidate the press and make reporting from Gaza impossible.
A rather infamous example is the death of veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank in 2022. She wore a splinter vest with the clearly visible inscription 'PRESS'. Israel denied intent and did not prosecute the soldier who fired the fatal shot.
(Source: NOS.nl)
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