The development came after the Israeli parliament passed a law on April 1 granting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the ability to shut down Al Jazeera and other foreign networks it deems “a security risk.”
Israel’s cabinet is scheduled to vote on Thursday evening on banning Al Jazeera’s Arabic and English channels as well as their websites, Israel’s Broadcasting Corporation (Kan) reported.
Kan first broke the story on Thursday, where it claimed the legal advisor to the Israeli government, Gali Beharev Miara, green-lighted for the cabinet to consider shutting down the Qatar-based broadcaster.
The orders include shutting down Al Jazeera’s English and Arabic channels through local content providers and blocking all access to its websites.
The Israeli official also acknowledged to the Ministry of Communications that there is a legal challenge regarding the lack of Al Jazeera’s right to a hearing before the orders are approved.
However, the Israeli official brushed off the matter and said she does not perceive it as a legal obstacle to approving the orders for its closure.
The development came after the Israeli parliament passed a law on April 1 granting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the ability to shut down Al Jazeera and other foreign networks it deems “a security risk.”
The Knesset had passed the law after a majority 71-10 vote.
At the time, 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.
Al Jazeera responded to Netanyahu’s “slanderous accusations” while holding him responsible for the safety of its staff and network premises.
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 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.
At least 141 journalists are now among 34,596 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 throughout the war.
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, though a probe by The Washington Post on March 19 dismissed Israel’s allegations.
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.
Nearly two years since the incident, Israel has not been held accountable for its crime.
This is 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.
