Israel orders Al Jazeera to close local operation as Qatar mediates Hamas cease-fire negotiations

By TIA GOLDENBERG and JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel has ordered the local offices of Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network to close. The move Sunday escalates a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government as Doha-mediated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance. The extraordinary order, which includes confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel’s reports and blocking its websites, is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet. The network has reported the Israeli-Hamas war nonstop since the militants’ initial cross-border attack Oct. 7 and has maintained 24-hour coverage in the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s grinding ground offensive that has killed and wounded members of its own staff.