The move to shut down Al Jazeera has been met with outrage by rights groups and organisations globally.
Al Jazeera on Monday slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks about the network as “slanderous accusations” after the Knesset passed a law granting him the authority to shut down its bureau among other foreign news networks.
“Al Jazeera reiterates that such slanderous accusations will not deter us from continuing our bold and professional coverage, and reserves the right to pursue every legal step,” the network said.
The statement came after Netanyahu accused the Qatar-based network of inciting against its soldiers and participating in the October 7 attack, echoing common Israeli allegations towards those who expose the daily violations of Palestinians’ rights.
Netanyahu’s remarks came as the Israeli parliament passed a law granting him and other ministers the authority to shut down foreign networks it deems as a “security risk.” The legislation passed after a majority 71-10 vote.
“I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activity,” he said.
Al Jazeera said it holds Netanyahu “responsible for the safety of its staff.”
“Al Jazeera holds the Israeli Prime Minister responsible for the safety of its staff and network premises around the world, following his incitement and this false accusation in a disgraceful manner,” it said.
Speaking to the press shortly after the vote, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said the Israeli move “would be concerning.”
“If it is true, a move like this is concerning. We believe in the freedom of the press. It is critically important. And the United States supports the critically important work journalists around the world do,” Jean-Pierre told reporters in Washington.
“We believe that work is important, the freedom of the press is important. And if those reports are true, it is concerning to us,” the White House official added.
An ‘alarming escalation’
The move to shut down Al Jazeera was also met with outrage by rights groups and organisations globally.
In a statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Israeli government to allow Al Jazeera “to report freely on news events in Israel and Gaza.”
Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s programme director in New York said the law “contributes to a climate of self-censorship and hostility toward the press.”
Separately, Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, also voiced his concerns over the move to the Financial Times.
Shakir said the law would be an “alarming escalation” of Israel’s efforts to “clamp down on voices critical of its human rights abuses against Palestinians.”
Al Jazeera has been on the receiving end of attacks by Israel, particularly since the beginning of the brutal onslaught in Gaza on October 7, 2023, for its detailed coverage on the ground.
On October 18, Israel’s attorney general reportedly approved a ban on Al Jazeera’s local bureau before it backtracked on its decision the following month over Qatar’s key role in mediating the release of captives from Hamas in Gaza.
Qatar, the host of a Hamas political office, has been playing a crucial mediating role to release captives from Hamas and reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
Doha and Cairo had mediated a week-long truce between November 24 until December 1 that led to the release of at least 110 Israeli and foreign captives from Gaza. However, talks have stalled since the truce expired.
The latest round of talks in Cairo has also made no breakthrough, sources told Al Jazeera on Monday.
At least 138 journalists are now among 32,845 Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces since the beginning of the war. Some have been forced to flee to protect their loved ones.
Israel’s attacks on Al Jazeera as well as the rest of the press have intensified over the past six months, targeting the journalists and their families.
The world first witnessed this on October 25, 2023, when Israel killed four members of prominent Al Jazeera journalist and Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh’s family.
Israel killed Dahdouh’s wife, 15-year-old son, seven-year-old daughter and infant grandson in a strike in the south, despite Israel announcing the area to be a safe zone before the attack.
Dahdouh, now in Doha, then survived a missile strike on December 15 in Khan Younis, where Al Jazeera’s cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, succumbed to his injuries after being left to bleed for six hours.
Israeli forces prevented medics from reaching him with nonstop shelling and the ambulances had to receive prior approval to reach Abu Daqqa.
Israel then killed Dahdouh’s eldest son, Hamza, on January 7 in a direct missile strike that targeted a car with journalists in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Israel’s military was quick to justify the attack by claiming that it “identified and struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft that posed a threat” to its troops, referring to the drone that Thurayya was operating.
A probe by the Washington Post on March 19 dismissed Israel’s allegations.
On March 18, Israeli forces beat up and arrested Al Jazeera’s correspondent Ismail Alghoul during the deadly raid on the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Occupation forces released Alghoul while proceeding to kill and detain more civilians during the two-week raid.
Even before the war on Gaza, Israel targeted Al Jazeera’s staff and journalists.
In 2022, Israel killed prominent Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as she was covering an Israeli raid in Jenin. An Israeli sniper had shot and killed Abu Akleh despite clearly being marked as ‘press’ with her blue protective vest and helmet.
Known as the voice of Palestinians, her funeral was one of the largest that Palestine has witnessed, as Israeli forces attacked pallbearers while they were carrying her coffin.
To date, Israel has not been held accountable for its crime, despite numerous investigations that had found the Israeli occupation forces to be the sole perpetrators of the killing. Some of those investigations included ones by the United Nations, Amnesty International, and CNN.
