Photo: Collected
Palestinian movement Hamas said on Tuesday (2 April) that the actions of Israeli authorities to close the Al Jazeera office were aimed at concealing the truth about the hostilities in the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, the Israeli parliament said it had passed in the second and third readings a bill allowing the government to shut down the office of Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera in Israel over alleged security risks. The bill empowers Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi to issue temporary closure orders for foreign broadcasters in Israel and confiscate their equipment if their activities are found to be causing "real harm to state security." In the vote, 71 lawmakers supported the bill, while 10 others opposed it.
"Israel desperately seeks to obscure the truth of its heinous crimes, which shame humanity, and which the whole world witnessed through the screens of Al Jazeera and the free media," the movement said in a statement.
The movement condemned Israeli policy towards journalists and the freedom of journalistic work, recalling that a large number of journalists lost their lives in the Gaza war while performing their professional duties.
The bill was passed in the first reading at the Knesset plenum in February. On Monday, Netanyahu asked the chair of the ruling coalition, Ofir Katz, to ensure that the bill was passed in the second and third readings, Israeli media reported.
In October 2023, the Israeli government approved emergency regulations for closing broadcasters that allegedly caused damage to state security. Although the rules provided Israeli authorities with the ability to shut down the broadcasting of foreign TV channels and revoke media accreditation, not a single foreign broadcaster has been closed in the country since then.
At the same time, the security bloc of the Israeli government has on many occasions expressed belief that the broadcasting of Al Jazeera, in particular its coverage of events in the Gaza Strip, damages Israel's security. The government has several times raised the issue of closing the TV channel's office in Israel, but, given the role of Qatar in the hostage release negotiations, the final decision was constantly postponed.
Messenger/Mumu
