Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, escalating Israel’s long-running feud with the channel at a time when ceasefire negotiations with Hamas — mediated by Qatar — are gaining steam.
Netanyahu announced the decision on X, formerly Twitter. Details, including when it would go into effect or whether the measure was permanent or temporary, were not immediately clear.
“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 against Israel.
Several Al Jazeera correspondents went on air to give their understanding on how the decision would affect the channel, while the network condemned the move, calling it a “criminal action.”
“Israel’s suppression of free press to cover up its crimes by killing and arresting journalists has not deterred us from performing our duty,” it said.
An Al Jazeera correspondent on its Arabic service said the order would affect the broadcaster’s operations in Israel and in East Jerusalem, where it has been doing live shots for months since the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
No impact on reporting from territories
It would not affect Al Jazeera’s operations in the Palestinian territories, the correspondent said.
Another correspondent, on Al Jazeera’s English channel, said the order barred the channel from “holding offices or operating them” in Israel. He said the broadcaster’s websites would be blocked, though they were still accessible by Sunday afternoon in Jerusalem.
Israeli media said the vote allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days, according to the decision. Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said 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, along with Egypt and the United States, is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza.
As reports of a renewed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas circulate, Palestinians in Gaza are skeptical anything will come of it as they deal with the aftermath of another attack in Rafah.
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 long had a rocky relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias. Relations took a major downturn nearly two years ago when Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli military 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 on the war in southern Gaza. The channel’s bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, was injured in the same attack.
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 years-long boycott of Doha by the countries amid a 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, arresting Al Jazeera correspondents who were based there.
Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received 10-year prison sentences but were released in 2015 amid widespread international criticism.
Egypt considers the Brotherhood a terrorist group and accused both Qatar and Al Jazeera of supporting it.