Israel bans Al Jazeera: A look at the history of its feud, the network’s coverage of Gaza & accusations

Over 212 days have passed since Israel first attacked Gaza, killing over 34,000 Palestinians, including 14,000 children and 140 journalists, Qatar-based satellite news network Al Jazeera reported, titling its segment ‘Israel War on Gaza.’ Clamping down on the network, which has reported live from Gaza on the war since Hamas first attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, the Benjamin Netanyahu-led Israeli war cabinet unanimously voted to shut down the channel in Israel on May 5 – World Press Freedom Day.

Posting on X, Mr, Netanyahu wrote: “The government headed by me unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel.” Issuing a video statement, Mr. Netanyahu accused Al Jazeera of having “harmed the security of Israel” and that the time had come “to eject Hamas’ mouthpiece from the country.”

In response, Al Jazeera issued a statement, terming it a “criminal” move, “violating human rights and basic right to access of information.” Accusing Israel of concealing its actions in the Gaza strip by suppressing free press, Al Jazeera vowed to pursue all available legal channels to protect its rights and its journalists, and the public’s right to information.

Additionally, the order also withdraws all accreditation granted to Al Jazeera’s crew, bans media service providers from transmitting the broadcast channel and blocks its websites. The order allows Israel to block the channel for 45 days – the first such ban for a foreign news outlet in Israel. However, the ban is only on the channel’s website and TV channel. Its Facebook channel is still active in Israel, the BBC reported.

Following the closure, police raided the broadcaster’s office at the Ambassador hotel in Jerusalem, per a BBC report. In the raid, the police confiscated broadcast equipment from the media organisation’s office. BBC was prohibited from filming the raid or going inside the hotel by the police.

How did Israel shut down Al Jazeera?

On April 1, 2024, the Israeli parliament (Knesset) passed a law to temporarily ban foreign news outlets perceived as a ‘security threat.’ The law, which was passed by a 71-10 majority, gives the Israeli Prime Minister and communications minister powers to order the closure of foreign networks in Israel and confiscate their equipment if they are believed to “harm state security.”

The motivation of the move was made clearer when Mr. Netanyahu posted on X, “Al Jazeera harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against Israeli soldiers. I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activity.”

As per the provisions of the new law, Al Jazeera’s website is banned and any internet access provider hosting the website may be fined, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan has reported. The television channel is completely banned throughout Israel for 45 days, which can be extended. Al Jazeera is one of the only news networks with broadcast offices in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The newly-passed Israeli law would not apply in both areas, which currently have a massive deployment of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

Why has it shut down Al Jazeera?

Since October 7, when a Hamas-led attack killed 1,139 people in Israel, the Qatari-based news broadcaster has covered the situation live, non-stop. As the initial assault occurred, Al Jazeera reported that the attack, named ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,’ was launched with a 5,000-strong rocket attack followed by Hamas militants breaching the Israel-Gaza security barriers via motorcycles, bulldozers, powered parachutes and motorboats and attacking three Israel military bases in Zikim, Reim and Erez as well as civilian locations.

Its continued coverage traced how the Israeli towns of Sderot, Be’eri, and Ofakim were raided by Hamas with some fighters going house to house killing civilians and taking Israeli hostages. Countering Hamas, Israel launched continuous air attacks on Gaza as Hamas rocket attacks into Israel continued. The news outlet also mentioned that Israeli troops were fighting Hamas gunmen at 22 locations near the Gaza strip, claiming that at least 413 people were killed in Gaza and 2,300 were wounded.

However, as the IDF began releasing its own footage of the October 7 attack, accusing Hamas of committing sexual violence against Israeli women, Al Jazeera challenged some of the accusations by using its own forensic analysis. The network claimed that stories of mass killing and beheading of babies as well as allegations of widespread and systematic rape by Hamas fighters were false. It also claimed that it was Israeli forces and police who had killed civilians in villages near the Gaza border.

Furthermore, Al Jazeera countered several stories of atrocities shared with the media by Zaka, an Israeli volunteer group tasked with collecting bodies after the October 7 violence, with evidence, deeming them “highly questionable.” It concluded that while isolated rapes may have taken place, there was insufficient evidence to claim that rape was “widespread and systemic.” Hamas too has refuted allegations of sexual violence during the attack. However, a UN panel report concluded that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape and sexualized torture of women during the attack.

Since Israel laid siege to Gaza and carpet-bombed the Gaza Strip in its war on Hamas, Al Jazeera has reported continuously from the area, shared visuals, casualties and details of the military operation by the IDF. While reporting from the ground, Al Jazeera’s Arabic arm has often published video statements verbatim by Hamas and other militant groups in the area, drawing Israel’s ire.

Apart from on-ground coverage of war casualties via a live ticker, the network has also highlighted the protests faced by Mr. Netanyahu in Israel. A day after the Knesset passed the stringent law on foreign media, Al Jazeera published a report on how thousands of demonstrators were protesting outside an Israeli government building in Jerusalem. It claimed that the protests, which had initially demanded the release of Israeli captives, was now demanding Mr. Netanyahu’s resignation. It alleged that many in Israel believe Mr. Netanyahu was prolonging the war, stalling a ceasefire to prolong being in power.

Protestors have also demanded for an immediate ceasefire deal to be signed by the government with Hamas to ensure the return of the captives as well as early elections to vote in a new government, reported Al Jazeera. Mr. Netanyahu has been in power since 2009 except for an 18-month period between June 2021 and December 2022 when he was in the Opposition.

Recently, the network has focused on the pro-Palestine protests spreading across college campuses in the US and worldwide, demanding that the U.S. stop funding Israel’s war on Gaza. Voicing the harsh criticism Israel has faced due to its actions in Gaza, Al Jazeera has been accused of ‘anti-Semitism’ and of being pro-Hamas by the Israeli government.

History of Israel-Al Jazeera feud

The network, which became the first Arabic news network to report from Israel in 1996, has been the focus of Israel’s ire for long now.

March 12, 2008: Israel released Palestinian Liberation Front member Samir Kuntar, who was convicted of murdering four Israelis, and four other Hezbollah members in a cross-raid prisoner swap. While covering the release, the network broadcast celebrations by Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Israeli government’s press office had sanctioned Al Jazeera staff in Israel for the coverage, accusing it of airing more Hamas voices than Israeli ones.

July 26, 2017: Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque was briefly closed for the first time in decades after three Palestinians and two Israeli police officers were killed in a gun battle in the mosque’s compound. The three Palestinians had opened fire at the Israeli security near the Lion’s Gate and then entered the mosque’s compound, leading to a gun fight with the police. The authorities then emptied the mosque and closed it to the public, disrupting Friday prayers — usually attended by thousands of Palestinians.

Al Jazeera’s report mentioned manhandling of the devotees in the mosque compound, voices condemning the cancellation of prayers and the rise of tensions between IDF and Palestinians. In response, Mr. Netanyahu threatened to shut down Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem office, accusing it of “inciting violence.”

May 15, 2021: In perhaps its biggest showdown with the news network, Israel bombed the al-Jalaa Tower in Gaza city, which housed 60 residences and the offices of Al Jazeera and the Associated Press. The Israeli Army had given an hour’s warning to the residents to evacuate the tower before striking it with air missiles as part of its 11-day war with Hamas in 2021.

May 11, 2022: Al Jazeera’s Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by a “stray bullet aimed at Palestinian gunmen” by an Israeli soldier. While Israel initially denied Al Jazeera’s claims, insisting she was killed by Palestinian fighters, they later acknowledged that she may have been shot at by an Israeli soldier. The soldier faced no criminal charges.

December 15, 2023: In the current war on Gaza, the network’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh, was injured in an Israeli drone attack in Khan Younis, Gaza. Cameraman Samer Abudaqa was hit in the same drone attack and bled to death as emergency workers were unable to reach him due to the Israeli blockade. Prior to the air strike, on October 25, 2023, Mr. Dahdouh’s wife, younger son, daughter and grandson were all killed in an Israeli air raid which hit their house.

January 7, 2024: Wael Dahdouh’s eldest son Hamza Dahdouh, who was also an Al Jazeera journalist, was killed by an Israeli missile strike in Khan Younis, Gaza

February 13, 2024: Correspondent Ismail Abu Omar and his cameraman, Ahmad Matar, were wounded in an Israeli drone strike in Miraj, north of Rafah, Gaza.

March 18, 2024: Correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul was arrested for 12 hours by Israeli forces at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza and allegedly beaten for twelve hours, Al Jazeera claims. His equipment was also allegedly destroyed by IDF.

 Effect on Israel-Hamas negotiations

The ban on Al Jazeera came amid the Qatari government playing a key role in mediating between Israel and Hamas to broker a ceasefire along with Egypt and the United States. Qatar, which hosts Hamas leaders in exile at a political office in Doha, has been accused of not exerting enough pressure on Hamas to agree to a truce deal. Concerns on how the ban on the media house may affect negotiations were raised by Israeli cabinet members themselves.

However, a day later, Hamas accepted the Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal while Israel said it did not meet its “core demands,” adding that it would continue its attack on Rafah — home to over 1.4 million Palestinians who have taken refuge there. However, negotiations with Israel continue.

The ceasefire deal includes withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, return of displaced Palestinians to northern and central Gaza and an exchange of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners. Israel, which has ordered the evacuation of 100,000 Rafah residents for its ‘limited’ military operation, has sent a delegation to Cairo to continue talks. Meanwhile, bomb attacks by Israel on Rafah continue.