Blinken asked Qatar to 'tone down' Al Jazeera's Gaza war coverage: Report

WASHINGTON

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he asked Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to "tone down Al Jazeera's rhetoric about the war in Gaza," according to a report.

Blinken's request came Monday during a meeting with American Jewish community leaders, Axios reported, citing three people who attended.

"Blinken told American Jewish leaders on Monday that when he was in Doha on Oct. 13 he asked the Qatari government to change its public posture towards Hamas," it said.

One source cited in the report said Blinken asked the Qataris to "turn down the volume on Al Jazeera's coverage because it is full of anti-Israel incitement."

It said Blinken "appeared to be talking about Al Jazeera Arabic, not Al Jazeera English."

Anadolu reached out to the State Department to ask for confirmation on the report but has not received a response.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry has yet to comment on the report.

The wife and two children of Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent in the Gaza Strip, Wael al-Dahdouh, were killed in an Israeli airstrike Wednesday, shortly after the Axios report, according to the Doha-based television station.