Netanyahu’s cabinet approves closure of Al Jazeera delegation in Israel

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Benjamin Netanyahu, announced on Sunday that his government unanimously voted to closing of the delegation from the Qatari television station in Israel.

“My government has unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will close in Israel’, says the post written in Hebrew on the social network X.

Netanyahu thanks his Communications Minister for his work. According to Shlomo Karhi, Qatar’s television channel “harms the country’s security,” he wrote on the X network in Hebrew.

The implications for the closure of the news station are not yet clear. It has not been said when the ban will come into force and whether the decision will be permanent or temporary.

According to the Israeli press cited by AP, the vote allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days.

Al Jazeerra has not yet provided any reaction from the channel’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar. However, an Al Jazeera correspondent said the order would affect the broadcaster’s operations in East Jerusalem. Is that does not impact channel operations in Palestinian territoriessaid the correspondent.

Israel has had a tense relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias and incitement against the country. The decision to ban the news channel marks an escalation in the dispute between Israel and Al Jazeera and also threatens to increase political tensions with Qatar, which has played a key role in mediation efforts to stop the war between Israel and Hamas.

Al Jazeera has been one of the few broadcasters to remain in Gaza during the war and broadcast scenes of air raids and overcrowded hospitals.

Al Jazeera accuses Israel of massacres, while Israel accuses Al Jazeera of collaborating with Hamas.

*in update