Israel's cabinet came to a unanimous decision on Sunday to shut down the Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera's operations in Israel, following nearly six months of deliberations prompted by security concerns linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The order includes shutting down Al Jazeera broadcasts in Arabic and English, closing offices, confiscating broadcast equipment and blocking the news operation's websites.
It's believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country, the Associated Press reported.
The order went into effect immediately after Minister Shlomo Karhi signed the executive decree, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Al Jazeera was quickly dropped from Israel's main cable and satellite providers in the hours after the order. But its website online streaming links were still operating Sunday, according to the AP.
In a joint statement with Israeli network provider YES, Netanyahu said that "Al Jazeera correspondents have harmed the security of Israel and incited against IDF soldiers. The time has come to eject Hamas's mouthpiece from our country."
Karhi doubled down on the same sentiments, adding: "We will take immediate action against those who use freedom of the press to harm the security of Israel and IDF soldiers and incite terrorism in times of war. There will be no freedom of expression for Hamas' mouthpieces in Israel."
Al Jazeera issued a statement vowing to fight the action though all available legal channels and international legal institutions in its "quest to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the public's right to information."
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," the network said. The country's "targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera."
The order is currently being challenged in the High Court of Justice by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) on grounds of violating free speech.
