Al Jazeera Israeli Cabinet votes to shut down Al Jazeera's operation amid ongoing conflict with Hamas
The Israeli Cabinet has unanimously voted to shut down the operations of Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera.
Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu accused Al Jazeera of 'incitement'.
He said the decision was 'unanimously' taken by the Cabinet.
Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X: "The government headed by me unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel."
Ofir Gendelman, the prime minister’s spokesperson to the Arab world, said the decision will be immediately effective.
"This decision will be effective immediately, according to which broadcast equipment will be confiscated, the channel’s correspondents will be prevented from working, the channel will be removed from cable and satellite television companies, and Al Jazeera’s websites will be blocked on the Internet," he posted on X.
Quoting Netanyahu, he said: "The time has come to eject Hamas's mouthpiece from our country."
Israel has accused the network of being biased and collaborating with the Hamas group.
The Qatar-based network has repeatedly denied the allegations.
The decision escalates Israel’s long-running feud against Al Jazeera. It also threatens to heighten tensions with Qatar, which funds the media network, at a time when Doha is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza, the network reported.
The network is one of the few international media houses reporting from Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing at least 1200 people.
More than 250 people were taken hostage.
128 hostages are still unaccounted for while 34 are presumed dead.
At least 34,683 Palestinians have been killed and 78,018 injured in Gaza since 7 October, according to the Hamas-run health ministry as quoted by BBC.
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