Yesterday, while the possibilities of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas seemed to fade and the Israeli Minister of Defense announced an “imminent” ground offensive on Rafah, the Jerusalem office of the Qatari channel Al Jazeera – a major reference in the Arab world and Muslim – was closed by order of the Israeli Government after a cabinet meeting.
The action was brewing and yesterday plainclothes agents broke into the hotel room used by Al Jazeera in East Jerusalem to close the office. By order of Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, all work materials were confiscated, according to the network, which described the closure as a “criminal act.”
The Netanyahu Government accuses the network of attacking “Israeli security” and the closure will be renewable for 45 days. The Qatari network, which can appeal to Israeli courts, denounced in April “a series of systematic attacks to silence Al Jazeera,” stating that Israeli authorities have deliberately killed several of its journalists in Gaza, such as Samer Abu Daqqa and Hamza to Dahdooh.
The Foreign Press Association in Israel and the Occupied Territories condemned the closure, saying it is “a cause of concern for all those who support a free press.” “With this decision – he added – Israel joins the dubious club of authoritarian governments. And the Government may not be finished. “The prime minister has the authority to target other foreign media outlets that he believes are ‘acting against the state.’” Al Jazeera’s Arabic and English channels stopped broadcasting from East Jerusalem but continue to broadcast from Ramallah and Gaza. According to a network member, stopping work in the West Bank requires an order from the military occupation authority, which has not been received. Your satellite and cable connection could also be cut.
Not only the Qatari network, but the emirate itself has received pressure to get Hamas to accept the proposal for a ceasefire and exchange of hostages and prisoners on Israeli terms. Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh yesterday accused Netanyahu of “sabotaging” an agreement with his categorical statement that it would not lead to the end of the war. The same accusation has been leveled in Israel regarding the prospect of not recovering the hostages.
In any case, the Hamas delegation left Cairo yesterday and traveled to Doha (headquarters of the political bureau) for consultations, and so did the director of the CIA, William Burns, to speak with the Qatari prime minister, Mohamed bin Abdul Rahman. al Thani, which suggested that it was not all over yet. Hamas said it had delivered its response to Egyptian and Qatari mediators and would return to Cairo tomorrow, Tuesday. Last night Israeli media stated that the Islamist organization had accepted the first of the three phases of the agreement (which was already known) which involves the release of 33 hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in a 40-day process. In an environment of maximum pressure on the parties, there is speculation that Hamas would agree to give in on its demand to end the war in exchange for guarantees from the US that at the end of the entire process there will be a withdrawal of the Israeli army.
