The Associated Press announced Tuesday that Israeli authorities had shut down live camera feeds showing Gaza and confiscated the equipment, which it denounced as “an abuse by the Israeli government of the country's new foreign broadcasting law.”
“The Associated Press condemns in the strongest terms the actions of the Israeli government,” the nonprofit news group said in a statement. “We call on the Israeli authorities to return the equipment and resume live feeds immediately so we can continue to provide this important video journalism to thousands of media outlets around the world.”
The Israeli military regularly classifies the area surrounding Gaza as a “closed military zone” and restricts movement there. A live feed from The Associated Press covered the action in the Gaza Strip, where independent journalists are unable to work due to Israeli and Egyptian restrictions on access to the strip.
The Associated Press did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment, but the Foreign Press Association sounded the alarm about the closures and confiscations.
“Israel’s move today is a slippery slope. Israel could block other international news agencies from providing live footage of Gaza. It has the potential to block media coverage of any news event,” the FPA said in a statement.
The move comes just weeks after Israel shut down Al Jazeera's operations in the country, raiding the news organization's offices and seizing communications equipment, sparking swift condemnation from the United Nations and human rights groups of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's moves to restrict press freedom.
In a statement, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi accused the Associated Press of violating the new law by providing feeds to thousands of news customers, including Al Jazeera.
“The confiscated cameras are illegally broadcasting on the Al Jazeera channel scenes from the northern Gaza Strip, including IDF activities, putting our fighters at risk,” Karhi said in a statement. “Although the Associated Press was already warned last week that the law and government decisions prohibit it from providing broadcasts to Al Jazeera, the Associated Press has decided to continue broadcasting on the channel. It should be noted that this incident caused real harm to the viewers.'' National security. ”
The equipment seized included a camera, tripod, two microphones and transmitting equipment.
Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders condemned Israel's decision to seize the equipment.
“Israel slams the Associated Press after banning Al Jazeera,” it said in a statement. “RSF condemns the seizure of the media's cameras and the interruption of the series filming Gaza on the pretext that these images are being provided to Al Jazeera, among others.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also denounced the seizure as an “act of madness”.
“This is not Al Jazeera. This is American media that has won 53 Pulitzer Prizes,” he said in a statement. “This government is acting as if it has decided to expel Israel from the world at all costs. They have gone mad.”
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