TEL AVIV (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, escalating Israel’s long-running feud with the channel at a time when cease-fire negotiations with Hamas – mediated by Qatar – are gaining steam.
According to a statement from Netanyahu’s office, the decision goes into effect immediately. It could include closing the channel’s offices in Israel, confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel’s reports and blocking its websites, among other measures, the statement said.
Israeli media said the vote allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days, according to the decision.
“Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “It’s time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country.”
The extraordinary move is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet, although its government has taken action against individual reporters in the past. The statement from Netanyahu’s office said that under a law passed last month, the government can take action against a foreign channel seen as “harming the country”.
There was no immediate comment from Al Jazeera headquarters in the Qatari capital of Doha. But several Al Jazeera correspondents went on air to give their understanding of 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.
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.
Shortly after the government’s decision, Cabinet members from the National Unity party criticised its timing, saying it “may sabotage the efforts to finalise the negotiations and stems from political considerations”. The party said that in general, it supported the decision.
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.
