Israel suspends domestic operations of Al Jazeera news channel

The Israeli government unanimously voted on Sunday to suspend operations. Al Jazeeraa news network based in Qatar.

IsraelPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: statement: “Al Jazeera reporters violated Israel’s security and incited attacks against IDF soldiers. It’s time to rid our country of Hamas’ spokesmen.”

Al Jazeera has provided non-stop coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas since Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7 and criticized Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera said in a statement that the Israeli cabinet’s decision was a “criminal act that violates human rights and the fundamental right to access information.”

“Israel’s ongoing suppression of press freedom, which appears to be aimed at covering up its actions in the Gaza Strip, violates international and humanitarian law,” the network said. “Al Jazeera will not stop reporting even if Israel directly targets journalists, kills them, arrests them, threatens them or intimidates them.”

The network also said it “categorically rejects claims by Israeli authorities that suggest professional media standards have been violated.” Al Jazeera vowed to “pursue all available legal authorities” to “protect both the public’s right to information as well as its journalists.”

of Foreign Press AssociationA non-governmental organization representing international media in Israel and the Palestinian territories said in a statement that Israel had joined the “suspicious club of authoritarian governments.”

FPA concluded its statement with the following: “This is a dark day for the media. This is a dark day for democracy.”