The Israeli parliament has approved a law giving the government the power to ban broadcasts of TV channels including Al Jazeera, the Qatari-owned network.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would “act immediately” to close the network’s local office.

The US expressed concern over the move.

With foreign journalists banned from entering Gaza, Al Jazeera staff based in the strip have been some of the only reporters able to cover the war on the ground.

The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, approved the bill allowing foreign networks considered a threat to national security to be “temporarily” banned.

The ban would be in place for a period of 45 days at a time, which could be renewed. The law would stay in force until July or until the end of significant fighting in Gaza.

“Al Jazeera will no longer be broadcast from Israel,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on Twitter/X, calling the network a “terrorist channel”. His government has long accused Al Jazeera of anti-Israel bias, but has previously stopped short of a ban.

Al Jazeera did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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