Israel's cabinet voted unanimously to close Al Jazeera in the country on Sunday, immediately ordering the closure of its offices and a ban on the company's broadcasts.
The decision was announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Day X. Hours later, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi released images on Day , backed by the police – storming the Al Jazeera office in East Jerusalem. and confiscating the channel's equipment.
Here's everything you need to know about Al Jazeera's ban in Israel and how it could affect reporting on the war in Gaza and beyond.
Why did Israel close Al Jazeera?
The closure comes a month after Israel's parliament, the Knesset, passed a law on April 1 allowing Israel to temporarily shut down foreign media outlets, including Al Jazeera, if it deems them a security threat.
In a previously recorded report, Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, further explained the terms of the law. According to the law, the Al Jazeera website is prohibited in Israel, “including anything that has the option to enter or access the website, including any necessary passwords, whether paid or unpaid, and whether stored on servers Israelis or outside of Israel,” Khan added.
Furthermore, the Al Jazeera television channel is completely banned in Israel, he explained. Inside the country, cable providers are now displaying a message that the network is banned from air, although in East Jerusalem, some people have told Al Jazeera they can still access the channel on television as of Monday afternoon.
Khan added that the Internet access provider that hosts aljazeera.net “is also at risk of being fined if it hosts the website.”
Akiva Eldar, a political analyst and contributor to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, told Al Jazeera that the closure is “a very populist measure to feed the beast of public opinion that is very disappointed by the government's conduct in Gaza and internationally. ”. ”, adding that this is also “to please the partners of the radical right.” Netanyahu's government depends on the support of a group of far-right parties and leaders, many of them, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, holding key cabinet positions. .
Karhi's office said Al Jazeera will be closed for 45 days and the closure can be renewed, in accordance with the law passed on April 1.
When the law was passed, Netanyahu said he would “immediately act” on it to stop Al Jazeera's activity. However, the timing of the closure, a month later, coincides with crucial negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the war, brokered by Egypt and Qatar, where Al Jazeera is based.
Al Jazeera has been targeted by Israel before: Netanyahu threatened to close its Jerusalem office in 2017, and an Israeli missile destroyed the building housing the broadcaster's Gaza office in 2021. Many Al Jazeera journalists, and in several In some cases, their families have been killed by Israeli gunfire or shelling, including during the current war in Gaza.
What was Al Jazeera's reaction?
On Sunday, Al Jazeera issued a statement condemning the closure, describing it as a “criminal act” and warning that Israel's suppression of the free press “contravenes international and humanitarian law.”
Israel closes Al Jazeera offices. pic.twitter.com/8gLPtzOu4P
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 5, 2024
The statement further said that Al Jazeera would continue to provide news to a global audience.
What will the ban mean for Al Jazeera reporting?
Al Jazeera correspondents can no longer report from Israel, including occupied East Jerusalem. This is because both the main office in West Jerusalem and the office in occupied East Jerusalem were closed and equipment confiscated.
Karhi said the equipment he ordered seized included editing and routing equipment, cameras, microphones, servers and laptops, as well as wireless transmission equipment and some mobile phones.
In the pre-recorded report, Al Jazeera's Khan added that Israel is also banning any devices used to provide content. “That includes my cell phone. “If I use it for any kind of news gathering, then the Israelis can just confiscate it.”
While it is unclear how the closure will affect the reporting of Al Jazeera correspondents based in Gaza or the occupied West Bank, access to both Palestinian regions is largely controlled by Israel. Al Jazeera has called previous attacks on its journalists and offices attempts to target its journalism and prevent it from reporting on Israel's attacks on the Palestinians, including during the current war.
Why is this significant?
Since the start of the war on October 7, Israel has largely blocked foreign journalists from entering Gaza.
That has meant that Al Jazeera's Gaza correspondents have been among the few from a major international media organization to bring the deadly Israeli bombings and killings in the Palestinian enclave to a global audience.
In February, more than 50 international journalists signed an open letter to Egyptian and Israeli authorities calling for “free and unrestricted access to Gaza for all foreign media.”
What are the reactions to the Al Jazeera ban?
“Israel places a lot of importance on being a democracy and I think the idea that it can simply close down an international broadcaster of considerable reputation and history is appalling,” Tim Dawson of the International Federation of Journalists said in an interview with Al Jazeera. “Unfortunately, it is part of a long set of actions that the Israeli government has taken to try to thwart free information about this conflict.”
The U.N. human rights office condemned the closure in an Article X on Sunday.
We regret the cabinet's decision to close Al Jazeera in Israel. A free and independent media is essential to ensure transparency and accountability. Now, even more so given the strict restrictions on information from Gaza. Freedom of expression is a key human right. We urge the government to revoke the ban
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) May 5, 2024
Greek economist and former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis posted on X on Monday, condemning the closure. “Israel's banning of Al Jazeera is one aspect of its War on Truth. Their goal is to prevent Israelis from knowing what is happening in Gaza,” he wrote.
Israel's banning of Al Jazeera is one aspect of its War Against Truth. Their goal is to prevent Israelis from knowing that what is happening in Gaza, in their name, is not self-defense but a total massacre. An industrial force pogrom. Genocide. The West's determination to help and… pic.twitter.com/or2axn5T4V
– Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) May 6, 2024
In
That's why Israel is closing Al Jazeera. They don't want us to see what they are going to do in Rafah, the last refuge of the Palestinians in Gaza.
– Assal Rad (@AssalRad) May 6, 2024
Diane Abbott, a UK MP, also condemned the closure in a post on Monday.
Israel closes the Al Jazeera television network. Desperate to hide the genocide in Gaza.#FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/mwceTtjhR1
– Representative Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) May 6, 2024
Whats Next?
Eldar, who spoke to Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv, said: “I'm afraid this is not the last step.”
He said other media outlets could also see a shutdown by the Israeli government. “We know that there are ministers, including the Minister of Communication, who are looking at other networks, including Israeli channels, that do not satisfy the government.”
In November, Karhi, the communications minister, threatened Eldar newspaper Haaretz with sanctions for its critical coverage of Israel's war in Gaza.
Eldar also added that he hoped the law that Netanyahu's government used to shut down Al Jazeera would be challenged in court.
Al Jazeera also called on human rights and press freedom organizations to condemn the closure and is currently assessing what to do next. The statement released by the media network on Sunday said it would pursue “all available legal channels to protect both its rights and those of journalists.”
