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JERUSALEM – Israel’s right wing cabinet has ordered the immediate shutdown of the Al Jazeera network in the country, and the confiscation of the network’s equipment.

Al Jazeera’s offices in Israel will be shut down, its website made inaccessible, and its cable, television and satellite services blocked nationwide.

“The government headed by me unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X.

Israel has restricted coverage of its war on Gaza, not allowing international journalists into the Gaza Strip, and has been accused of deliberately targeting local journalists and their families during the hostilies which are now in their seventh month. 140 journalists and scores of their family members have died mostly in airstrikes, which their remaining members say were targeted.

Al Jazeera’s correspondents in Israel will be prevented from working under the new decree.

The Israeli Ministry of Communications confirmed on Sunday it had closed the network’s offices in Jerusalem, and confiscated all its communications equipment.

“In addition, the network’s broadcasts on cable and satellite were stopped, and access to its websites was blocked,” the ministry said in a statement.

CNN journalists in Israel confirmed Israeli cable providers ceased carrying the Al Jazeera networks by late Sunday afternoon.

“In accordance with the government’s decision, Al Jazeera channel broadcasts were stopped in Israel,” a message says on the frequencies previously occupied by Al Jazeera.

The move comes at a sensitive time as Qatari-sponsored mediation talks between Israel and Hamas continued over a temporary 40-day ceasefire and the release of 33 hostages. The shutdown of Al Jazeera is a blow to Qatar, the mediator of the talks, as it is the owner and operator of the network.

Indeed late Monday, in the wake of an evacuation order for select citizens in Rafah by the Israeli army, Hamas suspended talks.

A little over three weeks ago Israel in another apparent move to undermine the negotiations assassinated the three sons of the Hamas lead negotiator Ismael Haniyeh. The three were targeted in an Israeli airstrike on 10 April 2024. They were all killed. Israel at the time said the three men were “en route to carry out terror activity in the area of central Gaza.”

However it was later established that four of Mr Haniyeh’s grandchildren, 3 grand daughters and a grandson were in the car with the 3 men at the time, and were all killed. Relatives said the group was visiting family during the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday. Mr Haniyeh, who heads the Hamas political bureau, denied his sons were members of the Hamas militant wing.

Now with Al Jazeera banned at a critical stage of the talks, which are now suspended, it is entirely unclear of what lies ahead. Hamas want a permanent ceasefire, while the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government are demanding a temporary ceasefire. Mr Netanyahu had vowed that with or without a ceasefire an invasion of Rafah would go ahead as planned.

The move on Al Jazeera appeared to be a fault line in derailing the negotiations. Mr Netanyahu however was not drawing a link between the two. “Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel’s security and incited against IDF soldiers. It is time to expel the mouthpiece of Hamas from our country,” he said through a spokesperson on Sunday.

Al Jazeera was scathing of the move. “Israel’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. Israel’s direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to cover, whilst more than 140 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war on Gaza,” the network said in a statement.

“The Network vehemently rejects the allegations presented by Israeli authorities suggesting professional media standards have been violated. It reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the values embodied by its Code of Ethics,” Al Jazeera said.

Al Jazeera has seen a number of its reporters and camera operators lose their lives in Gaza, and many members of their families have likewise been killed.

According to Addameer, at least 45 journalists are in custody in Israeli jails, twenty-three of them are being held under administrative detention. The fate of the others remain unknown.

“As we have said before, we stand firmly against any decision to roll back freedom of the press. A free press provides an invaluable service to ensure that the public is informed and engaged,” UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement Sunday.

Tim Dawson, the deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, described the Israeli move as “utterly a retrograde and ridiculous decision.”

“Closing down media, closing down television stations is a sort of thing that despots do,” he said.

“Israel makes much of being a democracy and the idea that it can simply close down an international broadcaster of considerable reputation and history is atrocious,” Dawson added.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel described the ban as “a dark day for democracy” and “a cause for concern for all supporters of a free press.”

“Rather than trying to silence reporting on its atrocities in Gaza, the Israeli government should stop committing them,” a Human Rights Watch spokesperson said.

“CPJ condemns the closure of Al-Jazeera’s office in Israel and the blocking of the channel’s websites,” The Committee to Protect Journalists Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said in a statement in New York Sunday. “This move sets an extremely alarming precedent for restricting international media outlets working in Israel. The Israeli cabinet must allow Al-Jazeera and all international media outlets to operate freely in Israel, especially during wartime.”