Israel Just Banned Five Palestinian Media Outlets for Covering East Jerusalem, Branded Them “Terrorists”

There's a well-worn tactic for silencing journalists you don't like. Arrest them, smear them, strip their credentials. But if you really want to finish them fully, nothing gets the job done like calling them terrorists and calling it a day. No evidence required, no court needed. Slap on a label, and the machinery does the rest.

On February 23, 2026, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz signed a military order designating five Palestinian media platforms as terrorist organizations. Their “heinous” crime? Covering what's happening in East Jerusalem. The targeted outlets are Alasima News, M3raj Network, Al-Quds Albawsala Network, Maydan Al-Quds, and Plus Quds Network. Israeli authorities ordered internet service providers and social media platforms to block all five immediately.

Naturally, no specific evidence was made public, and there was no transparent judicial process. Just a label, and then silence.

The Outlets Were Their Eyes in Jerusalem

Here's something worth understanding before writing this off as a regional dispute: most Palestinians in the West Bank physically cannot enter East Jerusalem. Despite it being the home for some of them, the occupied city is locked behind over a thousand military checkpoints and a permit system that routinely denies access.

For the vast majority of Palestinians, these five platforms were their only live window into what was happening there – raids, settler incursions, arrests, and conditions at Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan.

They were not just some random news outlets but the connective tissue between Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine. None of the five platforms had offices inside East Jerusalem. They operated digitally, reporting from outside on events inside, and that's the activity Israel has now classified as terrorism.

Al-Asima News announced it was suspending all operations following the order. Their statement was remarkable for how composed it was: they said this was not a retreat from their mission but a measure to protect their journalists, adding that silencing the camera will not silence Jerusalem.

A "Terrorist" Label With Zero Evidence Attached

Katz signed the order, and the Israeli Attorney General confirmed it was legally permissible. No court or law stood in the way of enforcing it, and that's the full paper trail. No evidence was presented publicly by the Ministry of Defense to support the Hamas links or incitement accusations either, so I guess we’re just to take their word for it.

Press freedom organizations and Palestinian journalist groups condemned the move immediately, calling it part of a sustained campaign against independent reporting under occupation. That's not a fringe take because media monitors have been documenting Israel's crackdown on Palestinian press for years, and these accusations follow a pattern that has been challenged and debunked before.

We've seen governments reach for the terrorism label when they want to shut something down and skip the inconvenience of having to prove why. It's a tactic, and it works precisely because it's so hard to fight.

When the Cameras Go Dark, So Does the Truth

This ban didn't happen in a vacuum. Al Jazeera's operations have already been barred inside Israel, with journalists across the occupied territories facing arrests, equipment confiscation, and travel bans as standard operating conditions. With this order, there are now virtually no independent Palestinian digital platforms dedicated exclusively to Jerusalem still operating.

I’ve covered before about how governments use information blackouts to clear the ground for what comes next. The pattern is not at all subtle: restrict physical access, then restrict digital access, then act. Civil society groups have warned for years that media blackouts often precede intensified measures on the ground. And it’s not like we lack real-life examples either.

What does it tell you that Israel chose this moment, with the world distracted and international attention fractured, to finish the job on Palestinian media in Jerusalem? I'll let you draw your own conclusions. But the cameras are off now, and that should concern all of us.