DOHA: Al Jazeera will pursue all possible legal action “until the end” to challenge Israel’s ban on its operations there, the TV network’s news director said on Tuesday.
The new channel was taken off air in Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government decided on Sunday to shut it down over its coverage of the Gaza war.
Speaking to AFP in an interview on Monday, Al Jazeera English news director Salah Nagm said the network would follow every legal path and if there is a possibility of challenging that decision it is going to pursue it until the end.
After a cabinet decision which Benjamin Netanyahu said was “unanimous”, Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem offices were closed, its equipment confiscated, and its team’s accreditations pulled.
Nagm said that the equipment which was confiscated, and the loss that the media outlet suffered from stopping its broadcast, all of that is subject matter for legal action.
Israeli Government’s Order
The Israeli government on Sunday said the order was initially valid for forty-five days, with the possibility of an extension.
Hours later, screens in Israel carrying Al Jazeera’s English and Arabic channels went blank, apart from a message in Hebrew saying they had “been suspended in Israel”.
