The Israeli government is moving forward with plans to shut down Al Jazeera’s operations in the country, revoke the press credentials of its journalists, and block access to its broadcasts. The Communications Ministry has begun preparing the regulatory groundwork to close the Qatari network’s offices in Israel. According to officials, the move is based on security assessments and what the government describes as ‘ongoing incitement by the network against Israel.’
3+Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi is leading the effort. “Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel,” Karhi said. “I intend to act through all available legal and diplomatic channels to remove this terror-supporting network from Israeli airwaves and shut down its local offices.” The minister added that he would work to ensure Al Jazeera journalists lose their press credentials and that the network’s content is blocked across all platforms in Israel.
The latest move follows years of Israeli scrutiny of the Qatari network and previous government action against its operations on national security grounds. In 2024, Israel imposed an initial 35-day ban on Al Jazeera’s operations in the country, a measure upheld by a Tel Aviv court and subsequently extended for another 45 days after the cabinet determined that the network’s broadcasts posed a threat to national security.
3+As part of the measures, Al Jazeera’s broadcasts on Israeli cable and satellite providers were blocked, access to its websites was restricted, and Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room being used by the network as an office. The restrictions also underwent judicial scrutiny. Judge Shai Yaniv said he had been presented with evidence of what he described as a long-standing and close relationship between Hamas and Al Jazeera and accused the network of promoting the terrorist organization’s goals. The details of the evidence presented to the court were not made public. Al Jazeera denied the allegations and challenged the restrictions in court.
Further questions over the network’s relationship with Hamas emerged in January 2025, when Al Jazeera aired a special episode of its investigative program What Is Hidden Is Greater, presenting the October 7 massacre largely from the perspective of Hamas’ military wing.
3+The program broadcast previously unseen footage of Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif during preparations for the attack, as well as footage of Yahya Sinwar in Gaza before his death. It also presented a narrative of Hamas’s “victory” in Gaza, and promoted Hamas’ claim that the October 7 attack was a justified military operation “intended only to harm Israeli military personnel and abduct soldiers while not harming children and the elderly.”
A report published by The Amit Terrorism and Intelligence Research Institute (ATIRI) on February 14, 2025, assessed that the broadcast sought to reinforce Hamas’ post-ceasefire “victory” narrative and portray the October 7 massacre as a legitimate military operation. According to the report, Sinwar was portrayed as the “fighter leader” who remained on the front lines until his death rather than hiding in tunnels.
3+ATIRI said the previously unseen details and footage involving Sinwar and Deif provided further evidence of what it described as the close relationship between Hamas and Qatar’s Al Jazeera network. The report also pointed to Al Jazeera correspondents who had been exposed as operatives in Hamas’ military wing, as well as the network’s exclusive permission to cover the release of Israeli hostages, as further evidence of those ties.
The latest announcement comes amid growing tensions between Israel and Qatar over the Gulf state’s relationship with Hamas and its role in regional negotiations. Following years of government action, judicial scrutiny and mounting evidence cited by Israeli officials and researchers regarding Al Jazeera’s ties to terrorist organizations and its extreme anti-Israel propaganda, Israel is now moving to further restrict the network’s presence in the country by closing its local offices, revoking journalists’ press credentials and blocking its broadcasts nationwide.