The Israeli government Sunday announced closing al-Jazeera TV network office in Occupied Jerusalem and revoking press credentials of its journalists.
Israel’s communications minister Ayoob Kara said that the decision was based on the fact that some Arab countries have recently closed al-Jazeera local offices and blocked their work adding “We want to establish alliances economic partnerships and peace agreements with these countries.”
Last month Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused al-Jazeera of “inciting violence” for covering the latest tensions in Jerusalem over Israeli security measures at al-Aqsa Mosque.
“I have appealed to law enforcement agencies several times to close al-Jazeera office in Jerusalem” said Netanyahu in a Facebook post adding “If this is not possible because of legal interpretation I am going to seek to have the necessary legislation adopted to expel al-Jazeera from Israel.”
For its part Gaza government’s information office condemned in a statement the Israeli decision and said that al-Jazeera closure confirms the great efforts the Qatari broadcaster has exerted to convey the truth during the recent escalation at al-Aqsa Mosque.
The office stressed that Israel must be held accountable for its repeated criminal practices against journalists and media institutions the latest of which was assaulting journalists and breaking into media offices in the West Bank.
It called for launching a massive media campaign in solidarity with al-Jazeera and asked the International Federation of Journalists to take a serious step against the Israeli decision.
