Netanyahu cabinet votes to shut down Al Jazeera offices in Israel

The Israeli government has voted unanimously to close the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, announced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday (May 5).

This move is all set to fuel Israel's long-running feud with the channel at a time when cease-fire negotiations with Hamas - mediated by Qatar - are gaining steam.

Netanyahu made this news public on X, formerly Twitter. However, details on the implications of such a move on the channel and when it would come 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 responds

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera condemned and denounced this "criminal act" by Israel that violates the human right to access information. In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, in Arabic, Al Jazeera Media Network called the move a “criminal act that violates human rights”.

Further, the statement said that Israel's ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions on the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law. Israel's direct targetting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to cover, whilst more than 140 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war in Gaza.

Moreover, the channel said they will pursue all available legal channels...in its quest to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the public's right to information.

What the correspondents say

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.

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 October 7 attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

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.

Blocking channel

Israeli media said the vote allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days, according to the decision. Israel's 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 is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza, along with Egypt and the United States.

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.

Rocky relationship

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 October 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, which is funded by the Qatar government, 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's operations

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 US 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 yearslong 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 the channel operated out of, arresting its correspondents.

Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received 10-year prison sentences, but were later released in 2015 amid widespread international criticism.

Egypt considers the Brotherhood a terrorist group and accused both Qatar and Al Jazeera of supporting it.

(With inputs from agencies)