JERUSALEM/DOHA — Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office after the government decided to shut down the Qatari-owned TV station's local operations on Sunday (May 5), an Israeli official and an Al Jazeera source told Reuters.

Video circulated online showed plainclothes officers dismantling camera equipment in a hotel room, which the Al Jazeera source said was in East Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet shut down the network for as long as the war in Gaza continues, saying it threatened national security.

Al Jazeera said the move was a "criminal action" and the accusation that the network threatened Israeli security was a "dangerous and ridiculous lie" that put its journalists at risk.

It reserved the right to "pursue every legal step".

The network has criticised Israel's military operation in Gaza, from where it has reported throughout the war.

"The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel," Netanyahu posted on social media following a unanimous cabinet vote.

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