Israeli police raid Al Jazeera office after decision to close broadcaster

Israeli police raided the office of Qatar-owned Al Jazeera television in occupied East Jerusalem and confiscated its equipment, shortly after a government decision to shut down the broadcaster.

“Our inspectors, supported by the police, raided Al Jazeera offices in Jerusalem and confiscated its equipment,” far-right Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said on his X account.

​​​​​​​Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Sunday that his government has decided to close Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel.

Last month, Israel’s Knesset (parliament) passed legislation allowing the closure of the Al Jazeera television.

Under the legislation, the communications minister is empowered to shut down foreign networks operating in Israel and confiscate their equipment if the defense minister identifies that their broadcast poses “an actual harm to the state’s security.”

'Criminal act'

The Doha-based television denounced the Israeli government's decision to close its offices as a “criminal act.”

“Ironically as the world marked World Press Freedom Day; the Israeli government closed Al Jazeera’s offices, preventing the public from accessing its content, disregarding the universally recognised fundamentals of freedom of expression,” it said in a statement.

​​​​​​​The pan-Arab television vowed to pursue all available legal channels through international legal institutions to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the public’s right to information.

“Al Jazeera urges all media freedom, human rights, and other concerned organisations, to condemn the repeated attacks on journalists and the press by Israel, and to hold those responsible to account,” it added.

The decision escalated Israel’s long-running feud against Al Jazeera.

It also threatened to heighten tensions with Qatar, which owns the channel, at a time when the Doha government is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza.

Israel has long had a rocky relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias against it.

Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the war, broadcasting Israeli massacres from bloody scenes of air strikes and overcrowded hospitals.

Al Jazeera’s English operation often resembles the programming found on other major broadcast networks, its Arabic arm shares video statements from Hamas and other Palestinian groups in the region, angering Israel.