Israel returns AP equipment seized over Al Jazeera broadcasts
Shlomo Karhi, Minister of Communications in Israel, announced his decision regarding the return of television equipment that is the property of the Associated Press. This information was conveyed by the Times of Israel portal.
According to Karhi, the Ministry of Communications took steps to confiscate equipment that, despite multiple warnings, was being used to transmit information about the positions of Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip to Al Jazeera. In his view, this exposed these forces to risk.
The minister stated that since the Ministry of Defence wished to investigate the issue of transmissions from these locations in Sderot for risk to their forces, he had now ordered the cancellation of the operation and the return of AP equipment until another decision is made by the Ministry of Defence leadership.
Before this decision, on Tuesday, officials from the Israeli Ministry of Communications confiscated a camera belonging to the Associated Press. This camera had long been used to transmit live images from the northern Gaza Strip.
Previously, the United States unofficially called on the Israeli authorities to return the Associated Press equipment and lift the live transmission ban from the Gaza Strip - AP reported on Tuesday, citing a senior administration official.
The agency was accused of violating Israeli law because it provided images to the Qatari station Al Jazeera, whose operations in Israel are banned.
Al Jazeera is one of thousands of AP clients that receive images from a fixed camera - the agency defended itself.
"Al Jazeera law"
This spring, Israel introduced a new law concerning foreign media. This law, colloquially known as the "Al Jazeera law," allows the government to temporarily ban the operations of media that, according to the services, pose a threat to national security. The government used this law at the beginning of May to suspend Al Jazeera's operations in Israel. The station's offices were closed, and its equipment was confiscated.
The Israeli government has long accused Al Jazeera of bias in covering the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has referred to the station as "terrorist." Al Jazeera is one of the few media outlets that continue to transmit information from the Gaza Strip.
