Israel has had to reverse in a few hours the use of the same law it approved to silence the Qatari television network Al Jazeera, one of the main news agencies in the world and based in its great ally, the United States: Associated Press (AP). The news agency has a camera permanently recording next to the Israeli town of Sderot, very close to Gaza, whose images receive thousands of media. Since one of them is Al Jazeera, whose offices Israel closed this month, the country’s officials confiscated the AP’s equipment in that location, claiming that it violated the new law. The White House expressed its “concern” and asked Israel to reverse the decision. Late this Tuesday, the Minister of Communications, Shlomo Karhi, published a statement on the social network
The Israeli Ministry defended its decision by arguing that the camera “was trying to follow the activity” of Israeli troops, something that military censorship prohibits, and regretted that AP sold the signal to Al Jazeera, “which causes great damage to the National security”.
The news agency responded that this measure had nothing to do with the content, but with an “abusive use” of the new law that deprived the rest of the clients of images. The Foreign Press Association in Israel and the Palestinian Territories was “alarmed” by “the latest step by the Israeli Government to repress the media” – which it prevents from freely entering Gaza – which represents entering “a slippery slope.” ”.
“Israel could prevent other international news agencies from providing live images from Gaza” or “block media coverage of virtually any current event for vague security reasons,” he warns. “Israel’s record on press freedom has already been dismal throughout the war. Throughout the conflict, it has prevented independent access to Gaza by foreign journalists. Now it has taken another step back, moving away from the democratic ideals that it claims to defend,” the Association lamented in a statement.
Israel’s new step put President Joe Biden’s Administration in a difficult situation, which declares its support for Israel, but is trying to pressure Netanyahu to avoid a full-fledged offensive in Rafah, the last enclave in Gaza where they have not yet Israeli troops completely entered, and to achieve a ceasefire of several weeks. Those pressures, and Netanyahu’s resistance to accepting them, had led to the highest tensions between the two governments since the start of the war in October.
Criticism of the Hague decision
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In the midst of these tensions, on Monday Washington declared it a “scandal” that the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court requested an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as suspects of war crimes. and against humanity perpetrated in Gaza since October 7 and which have caused more than 35,000 deaths. Hours later, Biden once again defended the allied country by ensuring that Israel’s offensive in Gaza “is not genocide.” The chief prosecutor of The Hague, Karim Khan, has also asked the judges for the same measure for three Hamas leaders, including its top official in Gaza, Yahia Sinwar, for the attacks by the Palestinian militia in Israel on that date, which resulted in the death of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of more than 200 hostages.
This Tuesday, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre indicated that the seizure of the camera was “concerning” and her Government was going to “examine” the measure. “We have always made clear the importance of the work that journalists do and how it is one of the pillars of our democracy and freedom,” he maintained, before adding that the press “holds us accountable and makes sure that the facts are known.” . And that is fundamental for the American people and for the entire world… It is fundamental that [el trabajo periodístico] continue.”
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