Israeli police take action against Al Jazeera – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

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The Israeli government decided this morning that the Arab news channel Al Jazeera can no longer broadcast in Israel.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi informed the Israeli media that the government has ordered that the equipment of the TV channel be seized. This applies to cameras, editing equipment, microphones, computers, as well as wireless equipment and some mobile phones.

A few hours later, it was reported that Israeli police officers were at the hotel where Al Jazeera has its office.

The Israeli National Assembly recently passed the law which allows for foreign broadcasts to be closed temporarily if they are considered a threat to national security in connection with Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

The ban Al Jazeera has received applies for the time being for the next 45 days.

Several of Israel’s largest cable TV companies chose to take the Arab news channel off the air only hours after the government’s decision became known.

A pre-recorded video from the television channel Al Jazeera was released on 5 May 2024 after the Israeli authorities banned them from working in Israel.

Could be conflict with Qatar

Al Jazeera is one of the few media outlets that still has its own journalists and photographers inside the Gaza Strip, and who get to document what is happening in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Several of the channel’s employees have been killed and wounded in the Israeli attacks.

Israel has long accused Al Jazeera of being one-sided and biased, and there have been several proposals over the years to ban the news channel, which has an Arabic and English-language edition.

The news channel is owned by the state of Qatar. Hamas’ exile leadership also lives in Qatar, and the country has several times mediated when there have been conflicts between Israel and Hamas.

Qatari diplomats are heavily involved in the ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire in the ongoing war. The Israeli closure of Al Jazeera could lead to a more tense relationship between the countries.

There have been strong reactions from the outside world to the Israeli decision.

Israeli soldiers at the Kerem Shalom border crossing earlier this year.

Photo: Åse Marit Befring / NRK

Closes border crossing after attack

The Israeli military also closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing today, following attacks. The Israeli online newspaper Ynet reported that around ten rockets were fired from Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas’s military wing the Qassam Brigades confirmed that it had fired rocket-propelled grenades at an area at the border crossing.

According to the report, the attack was aimed at Israeli soldiers. According to Palestinian and Israeli media, several people are said to have been injured.

Kerem Shalom is located between Israel, the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The border crossing is important for getting emergency aid into Gaza, where parts of the population are affected by famine after seven months of war.

People killed since October 7, 2023

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Sources: Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza / United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) / Israeli authorities

Reservation:
Figures from the Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and may periodically be delayed. The figure for the number of people killed in Palestine is a figure for Gaza. The figures from the Israeli authorities show that around 1,200 civilians and soldiers were killed in connection with the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. According to figures published on 3 April by the Israeli authorities, 260 Israeli soldiers have been killed since 27 October 2023. None of the figures have been confirmed by independent sources. The Palestinian figures are updated daily. Figures from Israel are updated at least twice a week.

Close More information about the figures

Ceasefire talks in Cairo

At the same time that Hamas’s military wing admits that they have fired at the border crossing, several members of Hamas’s political leadership have been in Cairo to talk about a ceasefire.

The delegation arrived in the Egyptian capital on Saturday morning. Brokers from Qatar, Egypt and the United States were also present to take part in the talks.

Israel, for its part, stated that it did not present a negotiating delegation, nor was it going to do so until the demands of Hamas become “realistic”.

Hamas demands a permanent ceasefire, Israel insists that the ceasefire must be limited in time. What should be in the proposal to which Hamas should respond is 40 days.

Accuses Netanyahu of sabotage

The Palestinian group is under heavy pressure from the United States, which wants Hamas to accept the latest proposal for a cease-fire that Israel has helped design.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says in a comment that they are still intent on concluding an agreement, but that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately sabotaging the mediators’ attempts to find a solution.

The Hamas leader says, according to the news agency, that a ceasefire agreement must provide guarantees that Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip. And that the agreement must ensure a serious exchange of hostages and political prisoners.

On Sunday afternoon, the negotiating team left Cairo and returned to Doha in Qatar. Now “further consultations” await, an unnamed official told the French news agency AFP.

Follow the development in NRK’s ​​News Center:

Repeats Hamas must go

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains that Israel will not accept demands to end the war. He says this will lead to Hamas remaining in power in Gaza.

– The State of Israel cannot accept this. We are not ready to accept a situation where Hamas battalions come out of their bunkers, take control of Gaza again, rebuild their military infrastructure and again threaten the citizens of Israel, Netanyahu said in connection with a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

According to Defense Minister Yoav Gallantvil, the Israeli military will in the near future take action against the border town of Rafah, which they believe is the last place where key Hamas commanders stay, and other nearby areas.

But Israel is also under international pressure, both to conclude a ceasefire and not to launch a ground invasion of Rafah.

In a telephone conversation on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron is said to have urgently asked Prime Minister Netanyahu to negotiate and reach an agreement with Hamas.

Although Israel and Hamas maintain their positions in public, there is still some optimism that the Cairo meetings could lead to a breakthrough. This is according to sources who follow the process.

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Published 05.05.2024, at 14.11 Updated 05.05.2024, at 17.14