Al Jazeera shutdown meant to conceal Israel’s war crimes, says Islamic Jihad
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement has denounced the Israeli regime’s decision to shut down the local operations of Al Jazeera news network, stating that the closure is meant to cover up the regime’s war crimes in the occupied territories.
“We strongly condemn the Zionist cabinet’s decision to shutter Al Jazeera’s office in the occupied Palestinian lands, and view it as part of the [usurping] entity’s systematic campaign to suppress truth and conceal the war crimes being committed by occupation forces against our compatriots throughout occupied lands,” the Gaza-based group said in a statement on Sunday evening.
It added that the decision to shut down Al Jazeera comes as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is threatening to launch a ground invasion of Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
“The Zionist enemy is set to press ahead with its genocidal war against our countrymen and women. It is trying to distort facts and impose its own narratives upon mainstream media,” the statement further read.
The Islamic Jihad movement went on to urge international institutions and media outlets worldwide to double their efforts and expose the barbaric crimes of Israel’s killing machine.
“We greatly appreciate the heroic sacrifices made by journalists and media professionals in covering the Zionist regime’s aggression against Gaza, the death of some 141 correspondents and injury of dozens of others, and the distinguished role that Al Jazeera has played ever since the ongoing Gaza war started on October 7.
“We call for the continuation of such efforts no matter what. These sacrifices were made in order to project the voice of oppressed and innocent Palestinians, and impress the global conscience,” the statement pointed out.
Netanyahu’s cabinet voted unanimously on Sunday to close Al Jazeera’s operations in the Israeli-occupied territories.
Al Jazeera Media Network condemned the decision, calling it a “criminal act”, and warned that the Israeli regime’s suppression of the free press “stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law.”
The UN Human Rights Office also criticized the closure, urging the Tel Aviv regime to overturn the ban, citing the importance of “free and independent media.”
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