Can't have people finding out what they are doing
Israel seizes equipment of US news agency
The Associated Press live feed from Gaza was allegedly being used by the banned Al Jazeera
Israeli authorities raided an Associated Press (AP) live position in the south of the country on Tuesday, claiming the agency was violating a new media law by allowing the live broadcast to be re-transmitted by its client, Al Jazeera.
AP claims Israeli communications ministry officials arrived at the agency's live location in the southern town of Sderot, two kilometers from Gaza and the scene of brutal fighting during the Hamas incursion last october, on Tuesday afternoon.
They handed AP staff a document signed by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi alleging the news agency was in violation of the country's controversial foreign broadcaster law, axed the live feed and confiscated the equipment.
AP also revealed that it had received a verbal order from Israel on Thursday to stop the live transmission, but had refused to do so. Al Jazeera was one of AP’s many clients subscribing to the live feed.
Israel banned the Qatar-based multi-award winning news outlet earlier this month, calling its reporting on the Gaza conflict “incitement” of terrorism and vowing to seize any hardware used to deliver its content. Al Jazeera’s offices were closed on May 5 and its websites have been blocked in Israel.
In a statement, the ministry said it would “continue to take whatever enforcement action is required to limit broadcasts that harm the security of the state.”
AP’s feed from Sderot mainly showed smoke from explosions rising over northern Gaza, though Israel claims the feed put the lives of its soldiers at risk. The agency has insisted it complies with Israeli censorship rules and does not show anything that could endanger soldiers.
https://www.rt.com/news/598003-israel-seizes-ap-equipment/