Israel to Close Al Jazeera Offices, Netanyahu Claims Channel Is ‘Bleeding’ in Reporting

Israel will close the offices of the Qatari news channel Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera has long been a thorn in the side of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who now says the Arabic-language channel is “bleeding” in its reporting. The measure will take effect immediately, said Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi X.

The channel reports hard on the war in Gaza. Netanyahu said last month that he wants to ban the news channel from broadcasting from Israel. The Israeli parliament recently approved a law paving the way for a ban. According to Al Jazeera, the channel can be banned for an initial 45 days based on that law.

Karhi previously said that the channel would be banned because it is a Hamas propaganda channel. “There will be no freedom of the press for the Hamas mouthpiece.”

Al Jazeera denies these allegations and says that Israel is systematically attacking journalists in the Gaza Strip. The channel’s communications department spoke of “continuous attacks on Al Jazeera and press freedom.”

Al Jazeera is one of the few international media that still broadcasts live from Gaza. The channel is funded by the Qatari government, but claims to operate independently.