Israeli police raided the Al Jazeera office in occupied East Jerusalem – Photo: Reuters
Doha: The government of Israel has shut down the broadcasting of Qatar’s news channel Al Jazeera, while Al Jazeera Media Network has condemned this decision as a criminal act.
According to Al Jazeera’s report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on the social networking site X in Hebrew that the government has decided to impose a ban on the incendiary channel Al Jazeera in Israel.
Israeli Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi stated in X that they have signed orders against Al Jazeera and its access will be immediately restricted.
Karhi said in his statement that equipment used to publish the channel’s content, including editing and routing machines, cameras, microphones, servers, laptops, wireless transmission devices, and many mobile phones, has also been seized.
Later, Israeli police raided the Al Jazeera office in occupied East Jerusalem and cable providers stopped broadcasting Al Jazeera.
According to Al Jazeera’s report, the decision was made in a cabinet meeting chaired by the Israeli Prime Minister, where the cabinet unanimously decided to impose a ban on Al Jazeera in Israel. A few weeks ago, the Israeli Parliament passed a law allowing temporary closure of foreign media outlets as they pose a threat to national security in Gaza.
Al Jazeera’s Condemnation
Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemned the Israeli government’s decision as a criminal act and warned that it violates press freedom, international law, and human rights.
The network stated in a statement of condemnation that Al Jazeera Media Network condemns this criminal act as it is a violation of human rights and the fundamental right to access information.
Al Jazeera reaffirmed its commitment to continue providing news and information to its global viewers.
The statement said that the current ban on the press in Israel is an attempt to cover up its barbaric acts in Gaza, which violate international and human rights laws, as Israel is directly targeting and killing journalists and more than 140 journalists have been killed during the ongoing war in Gaza.
It was further stated that all allegations made against the network by the Israeli government are rejected and despite Israel’s efforts, they will continue to fulfill journalistic responsibilities according to rules and regulations.
It is clear that Al Jazeera is one of the few media outlets in the world informing the world about Israel’s brutality in Gaza during the worst ongoing war there, where aerial operations are ongoing and hospitals are being targeted, and Israel continues its genocide of Palestinians.
The ban on Al Jazeera by Israeli actions has also been fully condemned by the institutions of press freedom.
Tom Dawsen, Deputy Secretary General of the International Federation of Journalists, told Al Jazeera in an interview from London that this is extremely condemnable and ridiculous.
He said that the ban on media institutions, disrupting TV station broadcasts is an oppressive act.