DUBAI, May 6. /TASS/. Qatar's Al Jazeera has vowed to continue covering the military conflict in the Gaza Strip despite the ban imposed by the Israeli authorities, according to the statement published on the English version of the TV company’s website.

"Al Jazeera has condemned Israel's closure of the network <...> and vows to continue coverage of Gaza war despite Israeli ban," the statement said.

The network also said that following searches by Israeli police at its offices in Jerusalem, "the channel went dark."

Earlier, the Israeli government decided to shut down Al Jazeera in the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the decision was taken unanimously by the government and slammed the channel's activities as provocative. Police raided the company's offices in Jerusalem and confiscated equipment.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.