Israel orders Al Jazeera satellite news network to close local operation
LA TimesIsrael ordered the local offices of Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network to close Sunday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government as Doha-mediated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance. “It’s time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country.” Al Jazeera issued a statement vowing it will “pursue all available legal channels through international legal institutions in its quest to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the public’s right to information.” “Israel’s ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law,” the network said. “Israel’s direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to cover, whilst more than 140 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war on Gaza.” Israeli media said the order allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days. That changed with a law passed last month, which Netanyahu’s office says allows the government to take action against a foreign channel seen as “harming the country.” Immediately after the announcement, Al Jazeera’s English arm began broadcasting a prerecorded message from one of its correspondents from a hotel the channel has used for months in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to one day have for their future state.