The Qatar-based broadcaster continues to deny the “baseless fabrication” levelled by the Israeli government that the network’s operations pose a threat to the country’s national security. 

The Prime Minister of Israel has approved a request to renew a ban on Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem bureau from the country’s Communications Minister.

The network’s Arabic division reported on Tuesday this decision was made “on the grounds that Al Jazeera’s operations pose a threat to Israeli security”. Al Jazeera denies this charge and dismisses it as a “baseless fabrication”.

The network further decried the “extreme right-wing elements within the Israeli government,” spearheading a campaign that endangers its staff.

This latest move will halt the Jerusalem office’s operations for 45 days and is set to come into effect on September 5, which coincides with the end of the previous ban enforced by the Israeli government.  

Since May 5, the Jerusalem office’s operations have been subject to a total of four bans.

Al Jazeera “holds the Israeli government fully responsible for their safety”, the report added.

For instance, in the wake of Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail Al Ghoul and his Rami Al Rifi being killed in an Israeli airstrike in July, in a statement, the Qatar-based network condemned the killings as “targeted assassinations” by the Israeli forces.

Tuesday’s report added that Shlomo Karhi, the Israeli communications chief, said in a message to the broadcaster’s lawyers that any equipment linked to the Jerusalem office will be confiscated.

Also on Tuesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) remarked that Gaza’s reporters are under exponential risks spotlighting Israel’s ongoing aggression in the occupied Palestinian territories.

“Their colleagues in the West Bank and Israel are also facing unprecedented threats, assaults, and intimidation to obstruct their vital work covering this conflict,” Carlos Martínez de la Serna, the CPJ Program Director said in a statement.

Timeline of events

In July, Al Jazeera Arabic reported the third instance of the Israeli government extending the closure of the Jerusalem bureau and halting its broadcast for 45 days.

The second instance came in June, with the country’s parliament voting  51 in favour and 36 against for a bill to permanently ban the network from operating in the country.

Earlier in May, Israel’s Prime Minister announced via X that: “The government, headed by me, unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel.”

An Israeli Prime Ministerial Office communique revealed that this measure would include the confiscation of the Jerusalem bureau’s equipment, preventing broadcasts by the channel’s journalists, removing the channel from cable and satellite companies, blocking its website, in addition to other potential measures.

“There will be no freedom of expression for Hamas’s mouthpieces in Israel. Al Jazeera will be closed immediately and its equipment will be confiscated,” the Israeli Communications Minister said in a statement.

The government’s moves to silence the Qatar-based outlet was met with “deep concern” from the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide, in May.

This all stemmed from a bill passed in April which granted Israel’s government the ability to enact the subsequent bans.

Israeli rhetoric against the broadcaster goes as far back as 2017, when Netanyahu threatened to close the Jerusalem office, accusing the network’s journalists for “inciting violence”.