Al Jazeera’s headquarters at the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem were raided by Israeli police this afternoon, just hours after the Israeli cabinet voted to expel the pro-Hamas news network from its borders.
As per Arutz Sheva, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi signed an order on Sunday instructing Israeli television providers to cease broadcasting the Al Jazeera news channel. He also ordered police to shutter Al Jazeera’s two offices in Israel, confiscate the channel’s broadcast equipment, and block Israeli IP addresses from accessing its website.
“Too much time has passed, and there have been too many unnecessary legal hurdles to finally stop the well-oiled incitement machine of Al Jazeera, which harms the security of the state,” Karhi wrote on X following the closed-door vote.
“We will take immediate action against those who use freedom of the press to harm Israel’s security and incite terrorism during wartime. There will be no freedom of expression for Hamas’s mouthpieces in Israel. Al Jazeera will be closed immediately, and its equipment will be confiscated.”
The law, postponed initially from a vote on Thursday, determines that if the prime minister is convinced that a foreign media channel is harming the state, the communication minister may enact punitive measures. In February, the IDF uncovered evidence proving Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Washah also served as a senior Hamas operative involved in research and development for the terror group’s air unit.
