The US news agency Associated Press (AP) said on Tuesday Israel had shut down its live video feed of war-torn Gaza after authorities accused it of violating a new ban on Al Jazeera.
"The Associated Press decries in the strongest terms the actions of the Israeli government to shut down our longstanding live feed," the AP said in a statement, blaming "an abusive use" of Israel's new foreign broadcaster law.
AP said authorities had also seized its camera and broadcasting equipment.
"We urge the Israeli authorities to return our equipment and enable us to reinstate our live feed immediately so we can continue to provide this important visual journalism to thousands of media outlets around the world," the agency said.
AP, in its own news report, said the Qatari satellite channel was among thousands of clients that receive live video feeds from the agency.
It said that officials from the communications ministry had arrived at the AP location in the southern Israeli town of Sderot on Tuesday afternoon and seized the equipment.
It said the officials had handed the AP a piece of paper, signed by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, alleging it was violating the country's new foreign broadcast law.
The ministry said in a statement that the AP regularly took images of the Gaza Strip from the balcony of a house in Sderot, "including focusing on the activities of IDF (army) soldiers and their location".
"Even though the inspectors of the Ministry of Communications warned them that they were breaking the law and that they should cut off Al Jazeera from receiving their content and not transfer a broadcast to Al Jazeera, they continued to do so."
"The inspectors of the Ministry of Communications operated in Sderot, as they operated last week in Nazareth, according to the orders approved by the government in accordance with the law, and confiscated the equipment."
Last week, Israeli officials had confiscated broadcasting equipment from Al Jazeera's studio in the northern Israeli Arab city of Nazareth.
AP said it had been broadcasting a general view of northern Gaza before its equipment was seized, adding that the live feed has generally shown smoke rising over the Palestinian territory.
