Israel's communications minister orders return of AP gear amid probe

Szlomo Karhi, Minister of Communications in Israel, announced his decision regarding returning television equipment to the Associated Press. The Times of Israel portal she conveyed this information.

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.

“Since the Ministry of Defence wishes to examine the matter of the broadcasts from these locations in Sderot regarding the risk to our forces, I have now ordered to cancel the operation and return the equipment to the AP agency, until a different decision is made by the Ministry of Defence,” the minister stated.

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.

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, threaten 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.