DOHA: Qatar-based network Al Jazeera on Sunday condemned as “criminal” a move by the Zionist government to ban the broadcaster from operating over its coverage of the Gaza war. “We condemn and denounce this criminal act by (the Zionist entity) that violates the human right to access information,” the channel said in a statement, adding that it would take legal action.

Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday his government had decided unanimously to close the channel, and hours later it went off-air. Al Jazeera has been the focus of months of criticism by Netanyahu and his government in the latest round of a long-running feud that began well before the Zionist entity’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

The network said it would “pursue all available legal channels through international legal institutions in its quest to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the public’s right to information”. “(The Zionist entity’s) ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law,” the broadcaster said.

“(The Zionist entity’s) direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to cover,” it added. Since the start of the war in Gaza on Oct 7, Al Jazeera has aired continuous on-the-ground reporting on the effects of The Zionist entity’s genocidal campaign. The network’s office in Gaza has been bombed in the conflict and two of its correspondents have been killed. Al Jazeera said its crew accreditations had been withdrawn and the Zionist entity had banned media service providers from transmitting its broadcasts.

“There will be no freedom of speech for the Hamas trumpets in (the Zionist entity),” Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said in a separate joint statement with Netanyahu. “Al Jazeera will be closed immediately and the equipment will be confiscated.” Karhi issued an order to seize devices “used to deliver the channel’s content”, including editing and routing equipment, cameras, microphones, servers and laptops, as well as wireless transmission equipment and some cell phones.

Walid Al-Omari, head of Al Jazeera’s offices in the Zionist entity and the occupied Palestinian territories, reacted to the decision by saying it followed “a campaign in search of easy victories by ministers on (the Zionist entity’s) extreme right”. He said the broadcaster had been informed of the “closure of the offices of Al Jazeera Channel operating within the borders of (the Zionist entity)”, and the confiscation of its broadcasting devices.

The broadcasting to Al Jazeera’s websites would also be restricted, he said, adding that the curbs would not legally apply to the Zionist-occupied West Bank. Neither will it apply to the Gaza Strip, from where Al Jazeera still broadcasts live on the war. – AFP