Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said his government has resolved to shut down the Qatar-based news channel, Al Jazeera.
Netanyahu said the decision was taken after a meeting with his security cabinet.
Posting on X, the Prime Minister described Al-Jazeera as the mouthpiece of Hamas militant group.
He said: “After discussion by the Security Cabinet and pursuant to my directive, today the Government discussed closing Al Jazeera broadcasts in Israel.
“Al Jazeera correspondents have harmed the security of Israel and incited against IDF soldiers. The time has come to eject Hamas’s mouthpiece from our country.”
Similarly, Israeli’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said there will be no freedom of speech for Al-Jazeera.
Karchi said: “There will be no freedom of speech for the Hamas trumpets in Israel.
“Al Jazeera will be closed immediately and the equipment will be confiscated.”
Karhi issued an order to seize devices “used to deliver the channel’s content”, including editing and routing equipment, cameras, microphones, servers and laptops, as well as wireless transmission equipment and some cell phones.
This decision comes after Israel’s parliament last month overwhelmingly passed a new national security law granting top ministers the power to ban broadcasts by foreign channels deemed a national security threat and to shut their offices.
Shortly after that law passed, Netanyahu singled out Al Jazeera, which bills itself as the “first independent news channel in the Arab world”.
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