The “Al Jazeera Law” came into effect on May 5 after it was proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi.
The Israeli government has extended the closure of Al Jazeera’s bureau in Jerusalem and banned its broadcast in Israel for 45 additional days for the third time since the initial decision was implemented in May.
The Qatar-based network reported on the latest decision on Sunday, noting that it came after a similar move in June, a month after the Israeli government unanimously voted to shut down Al Jazeera’s local bureau on May 5.
The “Al Jazeera Law” came into effect after it was proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi.
The law, which specifically targets Al Jazeera, enables the Israeli government to shut down foreign media networks for 45 days and renew the ban for an additional period of 45 days.
“The government, headed by me, unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel,” Netanyahu said on X on May 5.
Al Jazeera had condemned the Israeli decision and described it as “a criminal act” that violates the access to information.
The network said Netanyahu’s move was “carried out with deception and slander.” It insisted that it will continue its work despite all efforts aimed at hindering its coverage that presents to its global audience the reality on the ground in Palestine.
“Israel’s suppression of the free press to cover up its crimes by killing and arresting journalists did not deter us from performing our duty,” Al Jazeera said.
“We affirm our right to continue providing our services to the public across the world, which is guaranteed by international conventions,” the statement added.
On October 18, Israel’s attorney general initially approved a ban on Al Jazeera’s local bureau before it backtracked on its decision the following month given Qatar’s key role in mediating the release of captives from Hamas in Gaza.
Doha and Cairo had mediated a week-long truce between November 24 and 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.
Aside from its in-depth coverage of Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and daily West Bank attacks on Palestinians, Al Jazeera has also been documenting protests in Tel Aviv against Netanyahu’s government.
Meanwhile, in June, the Israeli parliament reportedly approved a preliminary reading of a bill that is aimed at permanently banning Al Jazeera from operating in the country. The vote passed with 51 in favour and 36 against.
Al Jazeera has yet to publicly comment on that decision.
Deliberate targeting of Al Jazeera
Journalists have been among Israel’s main targets since the beginning of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, killing at least 163 per the latest government figures. The journalists are among more than 39,000 people killed in Gaza over the past nine months.
Al Jazeera has also been among Israel’s primary targets, especially following the war in the Gaza Strip, targeting its staff 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 an airstrike 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 a delay in requiring the ambulances to receive prior approval in order 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.
Israel’s military was quick to justify the attack by claiming that it “identified and struck a terrorist,” though a probe by The Washington Post on March 19 debunked the allegations.
Such targetings were also seen in southern Lebanon on October 13, when Israel targeted a press vehicle belonging to Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera’s Carmen Joukhadar and Elie Barkhia were among the press members injured in the site.
The same Israeli attack killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah.
In May, Walid Omary, Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Jerusalem, said that the network had recorded more than 50 attacks against its journalists since the start of the war.
Al Jazeera has been a key target of Israel long before the war for its in-depth coverage of the daily Israeli crimes against Palestinians.
In May 2022, Israel killed prominent Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as she was covering an Israeli raid in Jenin. An Israeli sniper shot and killed Abu Akleh, despite her wearing the blue protective vest clearly marked as “press.”
Israeli occupation forces also attacked the pallbearers while they carried Abu Akleh’s coffin.
More than two years since the incident, 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.
