On Tuesday, Israel shut down a live video feed of Gaza operated by the Associated Press (AP), prompting a protest from the news agency and raising concerns from the White House.
The Associated Press was accused of violating a new ban on providing footage of Gaza to Al Jazeera. In response, Israeli authorities swiftly confiscated their equipment situated in the Israeli town of Sderot, which overlooks the northern Gaza Strip, following government orders.
“The Associated Press decries in the strongest terms the actions of the Israeli government to shut down our longstanding live feed,” the AP said in a statement.
“We urge the Israeli authorities to return our equipment and enable us to reinstate our live feed immediately so we can continue to provide this important visual journalism to thousands of media outlets around the world,” the agency said.
The Associated Press disclosed that Al Jazeera isn’t the only client that receives live video feeds from the agency.
Reacting to the action taken by the Israeli authorities, Yair Lapid, an Israeli opposition leader on the X platform said the government “went crazy”.
“This is not Al Jazeera, this is an American media outlet that has won 53 Pulitzer Prizes,” he wrote.
White House Press Secretary described the situation as concerning, stating that the Presidency will look into it.
Phil Chetwynd, AFP global news director described Israel’s decision as an attack on press freedom.
“The free flow of verified information and images from reliable sources is vital in the current highly-charged context,” he said.
“We would urge the authorities to immediately reverse this decision and to allow all journalists to work freely and without hindrance.”
The United Nations said it was a “shocking” decision.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “The Associated Press, of all news organisations, should be allowed to do its work freely and free of any harassment.”
According to reports, Al Jazeera was shut down this month. Their offices in Jerusalem were closed, their equipment confiscated, and their accreditation revoked.
On Tuesday afternoon, the AP stated that its equipment had been seized by officials from the Ministry of Communications, who possessed a document signed by the Communications Minister, Shlomo Karhi. This document justified their actions on the grounds that the Associated Press had breached the country’s new foreign broadcast law.
The ministry claimed that the Associated Press had taken images of Gaza from the balcony of a house in Sderot, focusing on the military in their location.
“Even though the inspectors of the Ministry of Communications warned them that they were breaking the law and that they should cut off Al Jazeera from receiving their content and not transfer a broadcast to Al Jazeera, they continued to do so,” it said.
“The inspectors of the Ministry of Communications operated in Sderot, as they operated last week in Nazareth, according to the orders approved by the government in accordance with the law, and confiscated the equipment.”
This is not the first time Israeli authorities have shut down broadcast stations. Last week, broadcasting equipment from Al Jazeera’s studio in the northern Israeli Arab city of Nazareth was confiscated.
The war between Israel and Hamas began on 7 October 2023, when an attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,170 civilians. Hamas took 252 hostages, of whom 124 remain in Gaza and 37 are confirmed dead. The retaliatory offensive by Israel has killed at least 35,647 people in Gaza, the majority of whom are civilians.
