Johannesburg – Israel has shut down Al Jazeera’s operations in that country.
The move on Sunday followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet’s unanimous vote to close Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel.
The cabinet vote earlier on Sunday came after Israel’s parliament passed a law allowing the temporary closure in Israel of foreign broadcasters considered to be a threat to national security.
Al Jazeera has covered the violent Israeli attacks on Gaza that have left more than 34 000 Palestinians dead – many of them women and children.
Netanyahu and his allies including the USA insist the genocidal retaliatory attacks are in defence of Israel, which is determined to avenge the deaths of over 1 000 Israelis killed by Hamas in the October 7 attack last year.
During the attack, Hamas militants seized more than 250 hostages. At least 100 have since been released, many of them in an earlier truce.
Al Jazeera has brought home the deadly cruelty visited upon the Palestinians by Israel’s Defence Forces.
Netanyahu announced the decision to close Al Jazeera on X saying in Hebrew: “The government headed by me unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel.”
He said Al Jazeera was a mouthpiece of Hamas.
Israel raided and confiscated Al Jazeera’s broadcasting equipment.
Israeli authorities had warned they would seize broadcasting equipment including editing and routing equipment, cameras, microphones, servers, and laptops, as well as wireless transmission equipment and mobile phones.
The 45-day closure, with a possibility of extension – of Al Jazeera comes amid complicated relayed ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.
Al Jazeera has condemned Israel’s closure of the network that saw its offices raided and the channel go dark.
