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Netanyahu: We’re Shutting Down Al Jazeera in Israel

Never mind that his own spy chief expressed concern it could affect ceasefire negotiations.

Israeli forces reportedly raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network as a center of operations, just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that he had ordered its closure. The Sunday announcement came to the dismay of human rights groups and even his own spy agency. In a statement on X, Netanyahu called Al Jazeera—which has been doggedly covering Israel’s war on Gaza—the “incitement channel.” Israeli authorities confirmed to CNN on Sunday that a shutdown would entail closing Al Jazeera’s local offices, confiscating broadcast equipment, and cutting off channel broadcasts. An Al Jazeera source confirmed to Reuters that a raid had taken place shortly after. The crackdown, believed to be the first time Israel has forcibly shuttered a foreign news outlet, comes as Qatar continues to play a key role in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Mossad chief David Barnea had asked for a delay in the shutdown out of concern that moving against Al Jazeera could undermine the delicate negotiations.