Iranians Organize Exhibition at Congress Square for Victims of Mullahs’ Regime

FILE PHOTO - U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) speaks during the introduction of the Climate Action Now Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
FILE PHOTO - U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) speaks during the introduction of the Climate Action Now Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
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Iranians Organize Exhibition at Congress Square for Victims of Mullahs’ Regime

FILE PHOTO - U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) speaks during the introduction of the Climate Action Now Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
FILE PHOTO - U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) speaks during the introduction of the Climate Action Now Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Iranian activists and members of the Iranian community in Washington have organized an exhibition at the US Congress Square for victims of Mullah’s regime.

The event was held on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the political prisoners’ massacre committed by the Iranian regime against thousands of political activists in 1988.

The exhibition displayed hundreds of pictures for the victims of the massacre, as well as a number of statues depicting some political prisoners who were victims of the regime’s violations, and scenes of torture and suffering.

Chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Eliot Engel affirmed the Congress’s support to the Iranian people in their legitimate demands to stop human rights violations committed by the regime.

He pointed out that criminals who supervised these executions in 1988 have been assigned at the highest government positions in the Iranian regime.

The Democratic Representative, Steve Cohen of Tennessee, also delivered a speech at the exhibition, condemning the Iranian regime's violations against the Iranian citizens’ rights.

Deputy Director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran Alireza Jafarzadeh, for his part, stressed that the exhibition, which displays real pictures for the victims of Khomeini regime’s massacre, sends a message to the world that the Iranian people will not forget their cause against the regime.

The aim of this exhibition, Jafarzadeh noted, is to motivate present and future generations to always remember what the Mullahs' regime has done against the Iranian people.

He also pointed out that these violations are not over, and the main supervisors of these executions still hold the highest positions in their country, especially in the judiciary sector.

Jafarzadeh called on a number of representatives of international non-governmental organizations and the United Nations to investigate the Mullah’s regime massacre and the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian regime.

During their participation in the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, the representatives urged the international community to achieve justice and deter the Iranian regime in order not to repeat such crimes.



Nechervan Barzani Visits Tehran in New Effort to Delay Kurdistan Elections

President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Nechervan Barzani meets with Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji in Baghdad last week. (Kurdistan Region Presidency)
President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Nechervan Barzani meets with Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji in Baghdad last week. (Kurdistan Region Presidency)
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Nechervan Barzani Visits Tehran in New Effort to Delay Kurdistan Elections

President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Nechervan Barzani meets with Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji in Baghdad last week. (Kurdistan Region Presidency)
President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Nechervan Barzani meets with Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji in Baghdad last week. (Kurdistan Region Presidency)

President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Nechervan Barzani arrived in Tehran on Sunday on a visit described by a source from the pro-Iran Coordination Framework as a “last-ditch effort to postpone elections in the Region and maintain its unity.”

Iranian media said he is expected to meet with President Ebrahim Raisi, parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The source from the Framework said his visit is part of the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) effort to postpone the elections so that it has time to introduce amendments to the Baghdad Federal Supreme Court’s rulings related to the shares of minorities and the body that will oversee the polls, reported the Arab World Press.

Barzani will demand that Tehran pressure their ally, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), headed by Bafel Talabani, to agree on postponing the elections, added the source.

For their part, the Iranians wants to discuss “Israeli organizations that are present in Kurdistan and that are constantly targeting their country’s security.”

They believe that Nechervan Barzani is “approaching them from a weak position, meaning this is a golden opportunity to negotiate with him over the Israeli organizations and Iranian armed groups, which are opposed to Tehran, that are present in Kurdistan,” continued the source.

In return, the Iranians will talk to the PUK to persuade it to postpone the elections, which are set for June 10.

Kurdish Iraqi MP Rezan Sheikh Dler had previously warned that holding the elections on time would effectively lead to the division of Kurdistan into two administrations.

The PUK had declared in March that it would be boycotting the elections in protest against the Federal Supreme Court’s rulings.

Member of the PUK’s leadership council Jabar Yawar told Arab World Press that Kurdistan’s political disputes will be on Nechervan Barzani’s agenda in Tehran.

He will also discuss economic and border security issues with Iranian officials, he added.

“The Iranian have often played in role in resolving disputes between Kurdish parties and between the Kurdish region and federal government” in Baghdad, he remarked.

This is Nechervan Barzani’s fifth visit to Tehran in less than a year.

Electoral campaigns are expected to kick off in Kurdistan later this week.


Netanyahu Uses Holocaust Ceremony to Brush off International Pressure against Gaza Offensive

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day for the six million Jews killed during World War II, at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day for the six million Jews killed during World War II, at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP)
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Netanyahu Uses Holocaust Ceremony to Brush off International Pressure against Gaza Offensive

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day for the six million Jews killed during World War II, at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day for the six million Jews killed during World War II, at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected international pressure to halt the war in Gaza in a fiery speech marking the country’s annual Holocaust memorial day, declaring: “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”
The message, delivered in a setting that typically avoids politics, was aimed at the growing chorus of world leaders who have criticized the heavy toll caused by Israel’s military offensive against Hamas group and have urged the sides to agree to a cease-fire, The Associated Press said.
Netanyahu has said he is open to a deal that would pause nearly seven months of fighting and bring home hostages held by Hamas. But he also says he remains committed to an invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite widespread international opposition because of the more than 1 million civilians huddled there.
“I say to the leaders of the world: No amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum will stop Israel from defending itself,” he said, speaking in English. “Never again is now.”
Yom Hashoah, the day Israel observes as a memorial for the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and its allies in the Holocaust, is one of the most solemn dates on the country’s calendar. Speeches at the ceremony generally avoid politics, though Netanyahu in recent years has used the occasion to lash out at Israel's archenemy Iran.
The ceremony ushered in Israel’s first Holocaust remembrance day since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war, imbuing the already somber day with additional meaning.
Hamas militants killed some 1,200 people in the attack.
Israel responded with an air and ground offensive in Gaza, where the death toll has soared to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials, and about 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are displaced. The death and destruction has prompted South Africa to file a genocide case against Israel in the UN’s world court. Israel strongly rejects the charges.
On Sunday, Netanyahu attacked those accusing Israel of carrying out a genocide against the Palestinians, claiming that Israel was doing everything possible to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The 24-hour memorial period began after sundown on Sunday with a ceremony at Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust memorial, in Jerusalem.
There are approximately 245,000 living Holocaust survivors around the world, according to the Claims Conference, an organization that negotiates for material compensation for Holocaust survivors. Approximately half of the survivors live in Israel.
On Sunday, Tel Aviv University and the Anti-Defamation League released an annual Antisemitism Worldwide Report for 2023, which found a sharp increase in antisemitic attacks globally.
It said the number of antisemitic incidents in the United States doubled, from 3,697 in 2022 to 7,523 in 2023.
While most of these incidents occurred after the war erupted in October, the number of antisemitic incidents, which include vandalism, harassment, assault, and bomb threats, from January to September was already significantly higher than the previous year.
The report found an average of three bomb threats per day at synagogues and Jewish institutions in the US, more than 10 times the number in 2022.
Other countries tracked similar rises in antisemitic incidents. In France, the number nearly quadrupled, from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, while it more than doubled in the United Kingdom and Canada.
“In the aftermath of the October 7 war crimes committed by Hamas, the world has seen the worst wave of antisemitic incidents since the end of the Second World War,” the report stated.
Netanyahu also compared the recent wave of protests on American campuses to German universities in the 1930s, in the runup to the Holocaust. He condemned the “explosion of a volcano of antisemitism spitting out boiling lava of lies against us around the world.”
Nearly 2,500 students have been arrested in a wave of protests at US college campuses, while there have been smaller protests in other countries, including France. Protesters reject antisemitism accusations and say they are criticizing Israel. Campuses and the federal government are struggling to define exactly where political speech crosses into antisemitism.


Israel Begins Evacuating Part of Rafah ahead of Threatened Assault

Rafah border crossing/File Photo - AFP
Rafah border crossing/File Photo - AFP
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Israel Begins Evacuating Part of Rafah ahead of Threatened Assault

Rafah border crossing/File Photo - AFP
Rafah border crossing/File Photo - AFP

Israel called on civilians to evacuate parts of Rafah on Monday in what appeared to be preparation for a long-threatened assault on Hamas holdouts in the southern Gaza Strip city where more than a million war-displaced Palestinians have been sheltering.
Instructed by Arabic text messages, telephone calls, and flyers to move to what the Israeli military called an "expanded humanitarian zone" 20 km (7 miles) away, some Palestinian families lumbered out under chilly spring rain, witnesses said.
Israel's military said it had begun encouraging residents of Rafah to evacuate in a "limited scope" operation. It gave no specific reasons, nor did it say if any offensive action might follow, Reuters reported.
Seven months into its war against Hamas, Israel has been threatening to launch incursions in Rafah, which it says harbors thousands of Hamas fighters and potentially dozens of hostages. Victory is impossible without taking Rafah, it says.
The prospect of a high-casualty operation worries Western powers and neighboring Egypt, which is trying to mediate a new round of truce talks between Israel and Hamas under which the Palestinian group might free some hostages.
The Rafah plan has opened an unusually public rift between Israel and Washington. Speaking to his US counterpart, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant linked Monday's operation to the deadlock in indirect diplomacy, which he blamed on Hamas.
"During their discussion, Gallant discussed the efforts undertaken to achieve the release of hostages and indicated that at this stage, Hamas refuses the frameworks at hand," the Israeli Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"Gallant emphasized that military action is required, including in the area of Rafah, at the lack of an alternative," it added
On Monday, the Israeli military called on Palestinians in eastern parts of Rafah to move to a nearby "humanitarian area", saying it would "encourage ... the gradual movement of civilians in the specified areas".
An Israeli broadcaster, Army Radio, said evacuations were focused on a few peripheral districts of Rafah, from which evacuees would be directed to tent cities in nearby Khan Younis and Al Muwassi.
Many residents in Rafah said they had received telephone calls to evacuate their homes in the targeted area, in line with the army announcement.
In an overnight aerial attack on Rafah, Israeli planes hit 10 houses, killing 20 people and wounding several, medical officials said.
Three Israeli soldiers were killed on Sunday in a Hamas rocket attack near Rafah, at the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza, while Palestinian health officials said at least 19 people were killed by Israeli fire.
Sunday's crossing attack came as hopes dimmed for ceasefire talks in Cairo, with Hamas reiterating its demand for an end to the war in exchange for the freeing of hostages, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruling that out.
The war began after Hamas stunned Israel with a cross-border raid on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and 252 hostages taken, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 34,600 Palestinians have been killed, 29 of them in the past 24 hours, and more than 77,000 have been wounded in Israel's assault, according to Gaza's health ministry.
On Sunday, a top UN official accused Israel of continuing to deny the United Nations humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip, where the UN food chief warned a "full-blown famine" has taken hold in the north of the enclave of 2.3 million people.
While not a formal declaration, World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain said, in an NBC News interview broadcast on Sunday, that based on the "horror" on the ground: "There is famine, full-blown famine, in the north, and it's moving its way south."


Hamas Says Latest Gaza Ceasefire Talks Have Ended, Delegation Heads from Cairo to Doha

05 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: A Palestinian inspects a damaged house after Israeli warplanes bombed a home for the Al-Shaer family, leading to widespread destruction in the Al-Salam neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
05 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: A Palestinian inspects a damaged house after Israeli warplanes bombed a home for the Al-Shaer family, leading to widespread destruction in the Al-Salam neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
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Hamas Says Latest Gaza Ceasefire Talks Have Ended, Delegation Heads from Cairo to Doha

05 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: A Palestinian inspects a damaged house after Israeli warplanes bombed a home for the Al-Shaer family, leading to widespread destruction in the Al-Salam neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
05 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: A Palestinian inspects a damaged house after Israeli warplanes bombed a home for the Al-Shaer family, leading to widespread destruction in the Al-Salam neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

The latest round of Gaza ceasefire talks ended in Cairo after “in-depth and serious discussions,” Hamas said Sunday, reiterating key demands that Israel again rejected.

Israel didn't send a delegation to the talks mediated by Egypt and Qatar, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that “we see signs that Hamas does not intend to go to any agreement."

Egyptian state media reported that the Hamas delegation left Cairo for discussions in Qatar and will return to the Egyptian capital for further negotiations on Tuesday.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a statement earlier said the group was serious and positive about the negotiations and that stopping Israeli aggression in Gaza is the main priority.

But Israel's government again vowed to press on with a military operation in Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city on the border with Egypt where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents now seek shelter from Israeli attacks. Rafah is a key entry point for aid.

Gaza's vast humanitarian needs put further pressure on the pursuit of a cease-fire. The proposal that Egyptian mediators had put to Hamas sets out a three-stage process that would bring an immediate, six-week cease-fire and partial release of Israeli hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack, and would include some sort of Israeli pullout. The initial stage would last for 40 days. Hamas would start by releasing female civilian hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel has shown willingness to make concessions but said it "will continue fighting until all of its objectives are achieved.” That includes the stated aim of crushing Hamas.


Israel Closes Gaza Crossing after Hamas Attack and Vows Military Operation in 'Very Near Future'

File Photo: A truck carrying goods arrives at Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, August 15, 2018. (Reuters)
File Photo: A truck carrying goods arrives at Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, August 15, 2018. (Reuters)
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Israel Closes Gaza Crossing after Hamas Attack and Vows Military Operation in 'Very Near Future'

File Photo: A truck carrying goods arrives at Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, August 15, 2018. (Reuters)
File Photo: A truck carrying goods arrives at Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, August 15, 2018. (Reuters)

Israel closed its main crossing point for delivering badly needed humanitarian aid for Gaza on Sunday after Hamas militants attacked it, reportedly wounding several Israelis, while the defense minister warned of “a powerful operation in the very near future in Rafah and other places across all of Gaza.”

Both struck blows to ongoing ceasefire efforts in Cairo mediated by Egypt and Qatar after reported signs of progress. Israel hasn't sent a delegation, unlike Hamas, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that “we see signs that Hamas does not intend to go to any agreement."

The Israeli military reported 10 projectiles were launches at the crossing and said its fighter jets later struck the launcher. Hamas said it had been targeting Israeli soldiers in the area. Israel’s Channel 12 TV channel said 10 people were wounded, three seriously. It was unclear how long the crossing would be closed, The AP reported.

The attack came shortly after the head of the UN World Food Program asserted “full-blown famine” in badly hit northern Gaza, one of the most prominent warnings yet of the toll of restrictions on food and other aid entering the territory. The comments were not a formal famine declaration.

 

 

 

 


Hezbollah Says Fires 'Dozens' of Rockets at Israel After Deadly Lebanon Strike

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepting missiles launched from southern Lebanon over northern Israel on Sunday (AFP)
The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepting missiles launched from southern Lebanon over northern Israel on Sunday (AFP)
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Hezbollah Says Fires 'Dozens' of Rockets at Israel After Deadly Lebanon Strike

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepting missiles launched from southern Lebanon over northern Israel on Sunday (AFP)
The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepting missiles launched from southern Lebanon over northern Israel on Sunday (AFP)

Hezbollah said Sunday it launched dozens of rockets at northern Israel in retaliation for a strike on south Lebanon that a local official said killed a couple and their child.

The Iran-backed group said in a statement that it fired "dozens of Katyusha and Falaq rockets" at Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel "in response to the horrific crime that the Israeli enemy committed in Mays al-Jabal" which it said killed and wounded civilians, AFP reported.

Also, Israel's i24 News television said on Sunday that three people were injured, including one in a serious condition, after the missile attack that targeted northern Israel from southern Lebanon.

More than 250 Hezbollah members and 75 civilians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon since October. In Israel, missile fire coming from Lebanon has killed around a dozen troops and several civilians.

 


Netanyahu Refuses to End Fighting Until ‘War Aims Are Achieved’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  - Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - Reuters
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Netanyahu Refuses to End Fighting Until ‘War Aims Are Achieved’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  - Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to end Israel's war in Gaza until his “war aims are achieved,” Reuters has reported.

He said he cannot accept Hamas' demands for an end to the war or the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

He is willing to to pause fighting in Gaza in order to secure the release of hostages still being held by Hamas, believed to number more than 130.

"But while Israel has shown willingness, Hamas remains entrenched in its extreme positions, first among them the demand to remove all our forces from the Gaza Strip, end the war, and leave Hamas in power," Netanyahu said.

"Israel cannot accept that."

"Hamas would be able to achieve its promise of carrying out again and again and again its massacres, rapes and kidnapping."

In Cairo, Hamas leaders held a second day of truce talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with no apparent progress reported as the group maintained its demand that any agreement must end the war in Gaza, Palestinian officials said.


UNESCO: Journalists in Yemen Face Environmental Crisis

Floods swept away agricultural lands and caused huge losses to Yemeni farmers (state media)
Floods swept away agricultural lands and caused huge losses to Yemeni farmers (state media)
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UNESCO: Journalists in Yemen Face Environmental Crisis

Floods swept away agricultural lands and caused huge losses to Yemeni farmers (state media)
Floods swept away agricultural lands and caused huge losses to Yemeni farmers (state media)

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has affirmed that the risks facing journalists in Yemen are not confined to addressing political issues, but instead extend to addressing and covering environmental crises in this country, which has been globally classified as one of the nations severely affected by climate change.

Marking the World Press Freedom Day 2024, the organization highlighted in a report the challenges environmental journalists face, particularly in conflict zones like Yemen. saying Yemeni journalists continue to brave danger to report on crucial issues including the environmental crises affecting their country.

"Yemen, already burdened by conflict, faces a myriad of environmental challenges. Over the past decade, climate change-induced natural disasters, including floods, cyclones, landslides, and droughts, have caused extensive damage in the country. Among the most pressing issues are several cyclones that have hit Yemen, resulting in severe damage to housing and infrastructure, the flooding of hundreds of hectares of agricultural land, the loss of thousands of tons of crops, and more, directly impacting the livelihoods of Yemenis," the report noted.

The report also cited environmental journalist Hussen Nasser Al-Yabari saying that these challenges have been exacerbated by conflict, as man-made disasters such as deforestation, unsafe pesticide use, oil spills, and poor waste management have increased, putting further pressure on the country’s resources.

He added: “Yemen has faced several significant environmental challenges over the past year, exacerbated by ongoing conflict, worsening humanitarian, economic, and environmental conditions.”

"Awareness of all aspects of the environmental crisis and its consequences is essential for peacebuilding. Journalistic work is crucial for this purpose, providing the public with reliable information, insightful analysis, and a comprehensive understanding of the issues directly affecting them. Sharing a success story," Al-Yabari was quoted as saying.

According to the report, reporting on environmental crises amidst conflict and political instability presents numerous challenges. Journalists encounter significant hurdles in seeking and disseminating information on these issues, especially in a war-torn country like Yemen. According to the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate's first quarterly report of 2024, 17 cases of violations against media freedom were documented in the country during the first quarter of the year. These violations included restrictions on freedom, assaults on journalists and press institutions, and property confiscations.

In addition to dealing with physical, economic, political, psychological, digital, and legal threats, accessing reliable information in times of crisis can be challenging.


Netanyahu’s Cabinet Votes to Close Al Jazeera Offices in Israel

Part of a protest in Kuala Lumpur coinciding with World Press Freedom Day, showing a woman holding a picture of Hamza Al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s correspondent, who was killed during the Israeli war on Gaza (EPA)
Part of a protest in Kuala Lumpur coinciding with World Press Freedom Day, showing a woman holding a picture of Hamza Al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s correspondent, who was killed during the Israeli war on Gaza (EPA)
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Netanyahu’s Cabinet Votes to Close Al Jazeera Offices in Israel

Part of a protest in Kuala Lumpur coinciding with World Press Freedom Day, showing a woman holding a picture of Hamza Al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s correspondent, who was killed during the Israeli war on Gaza (EPA)
Part of a protest in Kuala Lumpur coinciding with World Press Freedom Day, showing a woman holding a picture of Hamza Al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s correspondent, who was killed during the Israeli war on Gaza (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera.

According to a statement from Netanyahu's office, the decision goes into effect immediately. It could include closing the channel’s offices in Israel, confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel’s reports and blocking its websites, among other measures, the statement said.

Israeli media said the vote allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days, according to the decision.

“Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “It’s time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country.”

The statement from Netanyahu’s office said that under a law passed last month, the government can take action against a foreign channel seen as “harming the country.”

According to The AP, an order barring a broadcaster is seen as an extraordinary measure by the Israeli government, which broadly allows media outlets to operate in the country. However, the government has in the past revoked press cards issued to individual correspondents over their coverage.


Four Lebanese Civilians Killed in Israeli Strike

This picture taken from the northern Israeli kibbutz of Malkia along the border with southern Lebanon, shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Meiss El-Jabal during Israeli bombardment on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from the northern Israeli kibbutz of Malkia along the border with southern Lebanon, shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Meiss El-Jabal during Israeli bombardment on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
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Four Lebanese Civilians Killed in Israeli Strike

This picture taken from the northern Israeli kibbutz of Malkia along the border with southern Lebanon, shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Meiss El-Jabal during Israeli bombardment on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from the northern Israeli kibbutz of Malkia along the border with southern Lebanon, shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Meiss El-Jabal during Israeli bombardment on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Four members of a Lebanese family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in a town in southern Lebanon on Sunday, civil defense and security sources said.
They said the family were killed in the village of Meiss al-Jabal, which has suffered extensive damage in regular exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of the war in Gaza last October.
Both sides have however refrained from pushing the conflict into all-out war although airstrikes and shelling have taken place sporadically.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Sunday's strike killed "three civilians" and wounded several others.

Hezbollah had on Saturday evening said it fired on military positions in northern Israel.
More than 250 Hezbollah members and 75 civilians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon since October. In Israel, missile fire coming from Lebanon has killed around a dozen troops and several civilians.