Israel's Communications Ministry seized camera equipment from The Associated Press on Tuesday, claiming the agency violated a new broadcast law by providing footage from northern Gaza to Al Jazeera.
The seizure was an escalation in Israel's efforts to punish Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab broadcaster that the Israeli government voted for. closed two weeks ago. It raised questions about how far Israeli authorities would go to shut down the Qatari-funded canal, which has generated extensive coverage of Israel's military offensive in Gaza.
Lauren Easton, the AP's vice president of corporate communications, denounced the Israeli government's action, calling it “an abuse” of a new law that gives authorities tools to crack down on foreign news media organizations.
In a statement, the Communications Ministry said inspectors had gone to a location in southern Israel used by the AP to broadcast live footage from the border with northern Gaza, which is several kilometers away. The ministry alleged that the feed was illegally carried by Al Jazeera, claiming that it showed the activities of Israeli soldiers and threatened their lives.
The AP reported that it adheres to Israeli military censorship rules, including restrictions on broadcasting troop movements that could endanger soldiers, and that the broadcasts largely showed smoke rising over Gaza.
It also reported that Israeli authorities issued a verbal order last week to stop the live feed, but this was not complied with.
As a prominent wire service, The AP makes its content available to subscribers worldwide.
Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel's parliamentary opposition, denounced the Communications Ministry for seizing the AP's equipment, calling the move “madness.”
“This is not Al Jazeera. This is an American media outlet that has won dozens of Pulitzer Prizes, he said. “This administration is acting as if it has decided at all costs to ensure that Israel will be excluded from the entire world.”
Ms. Easton said Israeli authorities should return the AP's equipment so it can restore the live feed and “continue to provide this important visual journalism to thousands of media outlets around the world.”
The Ministry of Communications said it would “continue to take enforcement measures as necessary to restrict broadcasts that harm the security of the state.”
In Israel, Al Jazeera's Arabic-language reporting has often come under criticism for reinforcing the Hamas perspective.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and other Israeli officials have called the network a “mouthpiece” for Hamas, which led the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel from Gaza that sparked the war. That day, Al Jazeera repeatedly reported statements from Hamas officials calling for a violent uprising in the West Bank.
Al Jazeera has said that Israel's decision to halt its activities in the country violates “the fundamental right of access to information.” It has maintained that it has not violated the standards of professional news media.
The Foreign Press Association, which represents Israeli and Palestinian journalists working for international news organizations, called the seizure of the AP's equipment an “outrageous” decision that prevents the AP from “providing crucial images of northern Gaza to all other media outlets around the world.” to provide. ”
“Israel's move today is a slippery slope,” the report said in a statement on Tuesday. “Israel could prevent other international news agencies from providing live images from Gaza. It could also allow Israel to block media coverage of virtually any news event on vague security grounds.”
According to the new law on foreign news media, if the prime minister deems that a foreign news media is “concretely undermining” Israel's national security, the government can temporarily close its offices, confiscate its equipment, remove it from Israeli cable networks and satellite television providers and block them. access to any of the channel's online platforms hosted on servers in Israel or owned by Israeli entities.
Johnatan Reiss contributed to this article.