Al Jazeera said the move was part of Israel’s “continued crackdown on the free press.” He added: “Israel’s direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to covering” the war.
Netanyahu’s government has been highly critical of Al Jazeera for years, and even more so since its war against the militant group Hamas began on October 7 after the group’s atrocities in Israel. Images of human suffering in Gaza broadcast by Al Jazeera have undermined Israel’s campaign against Hamas by eroding international support for its war.
Israel also strongly opposes the editorial approaches taken by Al Jazeera towards the conflict as well as its use of Hamas statements.
Al Jazeera opposes Israel’s targeting of journalists and says more than 140 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the start of the war. In a previous bombardment of Gaza in 2021, Israel razed an office building where several media outlets had their operations, including Al Jazeera and AP. No one was hurt.
In 2022, the Israeli Defense Forces shot dead one of Al Jazeera’s best-known journalists, Shireen Abu Akleh. Israeli ministers initially sowed confusion over the identity of the journalist’s killer, but later accepted responsibility and apologized, although Israel refused to cooperate with FBI and court investigations international criminal investigation into his death. During the current war, a shrine dedicated to Abu Akleh was bulldozed.
The Foreign Press Association, which represents journalists working in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank, has condemned Israel’s latest legal crackdown on Al Jazeera.
“With this decision, Israel joins a dubious club of authoritarian governments seeking to ban the station,” he said. “It’s a dark day for the media. It is a dark day for democracy.
Al Jazeera has the largest established presence in Gaza of any international media outlet. Israel allows foreign journalists access to Gaza only through strictly controlled press trips that it coordinates.
Politices
