Al Jazeera rejects Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's slanderous accusations

Qatari network Al Jazeera has rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusations and said it held him responsible for the safety of its staff, as he vowed to shut down the local operations of the broadcaster.

Israeli lawmakers voted on Monday in favour of the legislation known as the "Al-Jazeera law" which allows broadcasters from abroad to be shut down if they are deemed to pose a risk to state security.

Al Jazeera rejected accused Netanyahu of "incitement" and rejected his "new lies and inflammatory slanders."

"Al Jazeera holds the Israeli prime minister responsible for the safety of its staff and network premises around the world, following his incitement and this false accusation in a disgraceful manner," it said.

"Al Jazeera reiterates that such slanderous accusations will not deter us from continuing our bold and professional coverage, and reserves the right to pursue every legal step," it added.

The network said this move comes as part of a series of systematic Israeli attacks to silence it, including the assassination of several of its correspondents there in recent years, the bombing of its office in Gaza, and the arrest and intimidation of its correspondents in the field.

The network's statement came after Netanyahu said Al Jazeera "damaged Israel's security, actively participated in the massacre on October 7 and incited against Israeli soldiers."

Israel accuses the broadcaster of biased reporting.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war, Al Jazeera has reported extensively on the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip and shown images of death and destruction rarely shown on Israeli television.

The channel also regularly shows videos of the military arm of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, often of attacks on Israeli soldiers.