Netanyahu announces closure of Al Jazeera network in Israel

The Israeli Government unanimously decided this Sunday to close the Qatari channel Al Jazeera in Israel, after Parliament approved a law last month that allows the closure of foreign media.

“The Government headed by me decided unanimously: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on his X account.

In his message, Netanyahu thanked the Israeli Minister of Communication, Shlomo Karhi, who promoted the rule that allows the Government to close the national broadcast of the Qatari network.

Al Jazeera, which has had several disputes with the Israeli government since before the conflict with the terrorist group Hamas, still has journalists in the Palestinian enclave reporting what is happening in the Gaza Strip.

Some Qatari journalists have died in Gaza, Lebanon or the West Bank.

Reaction from Al Jazeera and Hamas
The ban on Al Jazeera, a news network from Qatar, one of the mediating countries in the conflict with Hamas, includes the closure of its offices, the seizure of its equipment and the blocking of its website.

The Israeli decision was branded “criminal” by the news network: “We condemn and denounce this criminal act by Israel, which violates the human right to access information,” Al Jazeera said in a statement on X.

For its part, Hamas stated that the ban “is a flagrant violation of press freedom and a repressive and retaliatory action against Al Jazeera’s professional role in exposing the crimes of the occupation.”

“It comes as the culmination of the war declared against journalists, who are subjected to systematic Zionist terrorism with the aim of hiding the truth,” Hamas added. Source: news

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