Israel is waiting on the security establishment to permanently shutter Al Mayadeen, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said on Sunday night, responding to criticism after the Hezbollah-affiliated channel broadcast live from the site where a rocket barrage fired by the Lebanese terror group killed 12 children.
“We enacted the regulations in primary legislation. We requested an opinion from security officials as required by law for Al Jazeera, Al Mayadeen and another channel or two,” said Karhi.
“We only received [an opinion] for Al Jazeera, and closed them. Al Mayadeen is still in progress. When the opinions are received, we will immediately act to close them,” added the Likud Party politician.
Karhi noted that the closure of Al Jazeera was given priority “for understandable reasons,” and invited the Israeli army to arrest Al Mayadeen reporter Hanaa Mahamid and “throw her across the border.”
“Allowing a Hezbollah reporter to broadcast from the scene of the massacre that Hezbollah carried out is absurd by any standard,” he said.
In her Sunday report from the Golan Heights, the reporter referred to the area as “the occupied Syrian Golan.” Mahamid also claimed that those killed by Hezbollah died due to an “Israeli attack.”
Like Qatar’s Al Jazeera, Al Mayadeen has been accused of serving as a propaganda channel for Hamas.
Mahamid used the terror group’s name for the war it sparked on Oct. 7, “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” local media reported late last year.
Israel’s Makor Rishon daily noted at the time that Al Mayadeen had broadcast photos of IDF troops in a way that allowed Hamas terrorists to identify their locations. It also repeats Hamas propaganda, calling on Gaza residents not to comply with IDF evacuation orders.
On Nov. 13, Karhi banned Al Mayadeen’s operations in the Jewish state for 45 days after getting authorization from the country’s Security Cabinet, as well as from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. However, the ban was not renewed following its expiry.
“Broadcasts such as these identify with the enemy while harming state security and will be blocked. Al Mayadeen channel’s broadcasts and reports serve the despicable terrorist organizations, and the time has come for a reckoning with them,” Karhi stated at the time.
Twelve children were killed and more than 40 people wounded on Saturday in the single deadliest Hezbollah attack since the Lebanese terrorist group joined the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, firing drones, missiles and rockets across the border on a near-daily basis.
