On the 228th day of the Gaza War, the Israeli government suspended the Associated Press’s live broadcast service from southern Israel to cover events in the Gaza Strip. The suspension was based on a law prohibiting the Qatari network Al Jazeera from receiving images, as confirmed by the Associated Press yesterday. Observers viewed this move as an attempt by the Israeli state to suppress the reputable American agency to prevent it from conveying the reality of what is happening inside the Gaza Strip, and thereby seek to obscure the gross violations of human rights that are being recorded daily.
However, following a call from Washington urging Tel Aviv to retract its decision, and due to immense American pressure, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi was forced to reverse the decision to cut the Associated Press’s live coverage of the war in Gaza, announcing the issuance of an order to cancel the operation and return the agency's equipment.
Earlier, the news agency condemned the actions of the Israeli government to suspend its long-standing live broadcast in the strongest terms, denouncing the arbitrary use of the new foreign streaming law in Israel, which prohibits supplying images to Al Jazeera. According to the agency, Israeli authorities confiscated its camera and broadcasting equipment.
The global agency urged Israeli authorities to return its equipment and enable it to resume live broadcasting immediately, so that it can continue to provide this important visual journalism to thousands of media outlets around the world, noting that Al Jazeera was among thousands of clients that receive live streaming services from them.
The agency explained that officials from Israel's Ministry of Communications arrived at the Associated Press site in the town of Sderot in southern Israel on Tuesday afternoon and confiscated the equipment. They handed the officials a document signed by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, stating that the agency was violating the new broadcasting law in the country.
According to the document, the agency's photographers regularly filmed the Gaza Strip from a balcony in Sderot, focusing on the activities and locations of Israeli soldiers. It also stated that, although inspectors from the Ministry of Communications warned them they were violating the law and must prevent Al Jazeera from obtaining their content and not broadcast to Al Jazeera, they continued to do so.
However, the agency confirmed that prior to the seizure of its equipment, it was broadcasting a general scene of northern Gaza, pointing out that the live footage showed smoke rising above the area. It emphasized its commitment to Israeli military censorship rules, which prohibit broadcasting details such as troop movements that could endanger soldiers.
In prominent reactions, United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric described Israel's suspension of Associated Press live coverage of Gaza as very shocking, while the organization Reporters Without Borders condemned the decision, calling it a heinous form of censorship.
