A number of leading advocacy groups around the world have roundly condemned Israel’s shutdown of the Qatari-owned news network Al Jazeera. In addition to the closure of Al Jazeera’s local offices on Sunday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, Israeli authorities confiscated the channel’s broadcasting equipment and blocked access to its website.
The move has racked up strong opposition from rights groups and media organisations, which have termed Israel’s shutdown of Al Jazeera an attack on press freedom. The development comes as Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza piles up over 34,000 casualties. Majority of those killed in the Israeli attacks are women and children, with deaths of the latter having crossed the 14,000 mark.
In a statement released by Al Jazeera following the shutdown, the network called Israel’s move a “criminal act”, saying that it violates international and humanitarian laws. Al Jazeera has been at the forefront of covering Israel’s atrocities in Gaza since October 7, 2023, delivering a comprehensive on-ground coverage on Israel’s targeted destruction of densely populated civilian areas, hospitals, refugee, and aid camps.
“Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information,” the network said on Sunday. “Al Jazeera affirms its right to continue to provide news and information to its global audiences.”
Al Jazeera rejected Netanyahu’s allegations that the network poses threat to national security in Israel and violates professional media standards.
“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,” Al Jazeera 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.”
Leading rights organisations, including the United Nations (UN), Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), have roundly condemned the shutdown.
“As we have said before, we stand firmly against any decision to roll back freedom of the press,” UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Sunday. “A free press provides an invaluable service to ensure that the public is informed and engaged.”
The CPJ raised concerns that the forced shutdown of Al Jazeera could set a dangerous precedent for other foreign media outlets operating in Israel.
“CPJ condemns the closure of Al-Jazeera’s office in Israel and the blocking of the channel’s websites,” the organisation said in a statement. “This move sets an extremely alarming precedent for restricting international media outlets working in Israel. The Israeli cabinet must allow Al-Jazeera and all international media outlets to operate freely in Israel, especially during wartime.”
RSF said Israel is silencing Al Jazeera for the network’s “coverage of the reality of the fate of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza”.
“RSF demands that the Israeli authorities stop their violent harassment against Al Jazeera,” remarked Jonathan Dagher, who is the head of RSF’s Middle East desk. “Such censorship legislation, under the guise of democratic rules, implicitly targeting a media outlet, sets a precedent fraught with threats to journalism in Israel.”
Terming the closure of Al Jazeera a “dark day for democracy”, the Foreign Press Association (FPA) said Israel’s has joined “a dubious club of authoritarian governments”.
“This is a dark day for the media,” FPA said. “This a dark day for democracy.”
The UN Human Rights Office expressed “regret” over Netanyahu’s arbitrary actions against Al Jazeera, calling for a reversal of the ban.
“A free and independent media is essential to ensuring transparency and accountability,” it said in a statement on X. “Now, even more so given tight restrictions on reporting from Gaza.”
Last month, Netanyahu’s parliament approved a sweeping law allowing the government to shut down any foreign media outlet it deemed threatening to the state.
