Inspectors from the communications ministry, accompanied by police, arrived at Al Jazeera’s offices in Jerusalem, confiscated equipment and cut off access. Al Jazeera’s broadcasts and access to its website have been blocked throughout Israel.
Protesters hold a poster reading, 'Targeting Journalist is A Crime', together with a poster of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed while reporting in Palestine, on World Press Freedom Day in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 3 May 2024.
Shlomo Karhi, Israel’s communications minister, posted a video clip of the raid on X, formerly Twitter, where the inspectors can be seen and heard naming the equipment they found. The association expressed concern that Israel’s government “may not be done” as the prime minister now has the authority to target other foreign media he deems to be “acting against the state”.
Al Jazeera was blamed by Israel for what were termed false reports that heavily relied on what was thought to be Hamas propaganda. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre criticized the move at the time as “a concerning step”. The US supports the work of journalists around the world, including those working in Gaza, she said.Israel closed the Kerem Shalom humanitarian crossing into Gaza on Sunday after a rocket barrage was fired by Hamas from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in an incident that could imperil delicate hostage and ceasefire negotiations.
The attack came hours after Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to temporarily halt the war in Gaza to gain the release of the hostages held there, but would not agree to the Hamas demand to end the war completely. Israel’s defence minister warned that its forces continued to prepare for a potential assault on Rafah in southern Gaza.
Netanyahu, he said, wanted to “invent constant justifications for the continuation of aggression, expanding the circle of conflict, and sabotaging efforts made through various mediators and parties”. “IDF forces are ready for a powerful operation all over Gaza and especially in the Rafah area,” he said in a post on X.
Israeli forces have been exchanging cross-border fire with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah almost daily since the start of the campaign againstin October. Tensions appear to have intensified with Iran-backed Hezbollah since Israel and Tehran began attacking each other directly last month. Schools including Northwestern University and Brown University have held discussions with students about demands to divest from businesses they say support Israel. At the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, police used pepper spray to break up a camp and arrested 25 protesters on Saturday, according toAbout 75 protesters waved Palestinian flags and chanted anti-war messages at the University of Michigan’s commencement ceremony on Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
Israel’s official position — even Netanyahu’s — was once in favour of two states. But the nation’s rightward drift, along with the trauma of the attacks by Hamas on 7 October, has hardened its stand to focus on security. Equally, Palestinians since the attack have embraced Hamas. Authorities forecast the Palestinian economy as a whole, including both the West Bank and Gaza, will continue to drop in 2024 by nearly 5% after cratering by 33% in the fourth quarter. That’s wildly optimistic, according to Ramallah-based economistThe Palestinian Authority no longer receives the portion of tax receipts from Israel it needs to pay the salaries and pensions of employees in Gaza and says it’s owed $1.3-billion.
Since 7 October, 474 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including at least 10 by Israeli settlers, according to the United Nations, which in 2023 recorded the highest number of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces since it began collecting this data in 2005.
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