Blinken reportedly told Qatar to rein in Al Jazeera war coverage
The US secretary of state reportedly disclosed the information to a group of American Jewish community leaders on Monday, Axios reported on Wednesday (26 October).
US Secretary of State Tony Blinken has asked the Qatari prime minister less than two weeks ago to tone down Al Jazeera's rhetoric about the war in Gaza, the Axios news site reports.
The US secretary of state reportedly disclosed the information to a group of American Jewish community leaders on Monday, Axios reported on Wednesday (26 October).
The request to "turn down the volume on Al Jazeera's coverage because it is full of anti-Israel incitement" suggests that the US fears the Qatari network's coverage of the war is inflaming tensions in the region, said the report.
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The request was one of several Blinken made as part of a broader plea for Qatar to change its public posture toward Hamas, Axios says.
Speaking alongside Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani in Doha earlier this month, Blinken said "there can be no more business as usual with Hamas."
Qatar has come under fire for hosting Hamas's political leaders but has leveraged those relationships in negotiations to free the hostages in Gaza.
US officials have been pressed several times on whether they condemn Qatar for hosting Hamas officials and have carefully avoided doing so, instead expressing appreciation for Qatar's role in releasing four of the 220-plus hostages abducted from Israel and held in Gaza.
