Jerusalem – Israeli officials seized a camera and broadcast equipment from The Associated Press in southern Israel on Tuesday, accusing the news organization of violating the country's new ban on Al Jazeera. The Qatar satellite channel is among thousands of customers receiving live video feeds from the AP and other news organizations. The AP denounced the measure.
“The Associated Press condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli government's actions to shut down our long-running live broadcast showing a view of Gaza and seize AP equipment,” said Lauren Easton, vice president of communications. corporate news organization. “The shutdown was not based on the channel's content, but on the Israeli government's misuse of the country's new foreign broadcasting law. We urge the Israeli authorities to return our equipment and allow us to restore the our live channel immediately so we can continue to provide this important visual journalism to thousands of media outlets around the world.”
Communications Ministry officials arrived at the AP site in the southern Israeli town of Sderot on Tuesday afternoon and confiscated the equipment. They handed the AP a paper, signed by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, claiming it was violating the country's new foreign broadcasting law.
Leo Correa/AP
Shortly before the equipment was seized, it was broadcasting an overview of northern Gaza. The PA abides by Israel's military censorship rules, which prohibit the broadcast of details such as troop movements that could endanger soldiers. The live shot showed, in general, the smoke rising over the territory.
The seizure followed a verbal order on Thursday to stop the live broadcast, which the news organization refused to do.
Israeli officials used the new law to shut down the broadcaster's offices in Qatar on May 5 and confiscated its equipment, banned the channel's broadcasts and blocked its websites.
Israel has long had a difficult relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias against Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described it as a “terror channel” that spreads incitement.
Al Jazeera is one of the few international media left in Gaza during the war, broadcasting scenes of airstrikes and overcrowded hospitals and accusing Israel of massacres.
The war in Gaza began with a Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 more taken hostage. More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since then, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
