Swisscom and Sunrise pull the plug on Hamas propaganda channel

SonntagsBlick has made it public that the two largest Swiss telecom providers, Swisscom and Sunrise, removed the most important television channel in the Arab world, Al Jazeera Arabic, from their cable networks in December. This was due to the channel’s proximity to the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, which is banned in Switzerland. FokusIsrael.ch first drew attention to the connection between Al Jazeera Arabic and Hamas. This also led to reactions in the political arena.

For years, Hamas was able to broadcast its messages unfiltered into Swiss living rooms on Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language channel – even though the channel’s proximity to the Palestinian terrorist organization had been known for some time. In a comprehensive study last year, the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), among others, exposed Al Jazeera Arabic as Hamas’ most important propaganda channel. The investigation showed that Al Jazeera Arabic regularly offered the Hamas leadership a platform for its messages and took instructions for its program from the leaders of the terror group, that employees of Al Jazeera Arabic were active in the military arm of Hamas and that Al Jazeera Arabic also regularly disseminated anti-Semitic content to defame Jews. Swisscom and Sunrise reacted to this information and in view of the ban on Hamas in Switzerland and possible violations of Article ^260ter StGB (terrorism article) and ^261bis StGB (anti-racism criminal provision) and decided to remove Al Jazeera Arabic from their channels.

Sunrise was the first provider to draw the consequences and switched off the channel on December 10, 2025. Spokesperson Rolf Ziebold confirmed to SonntagsBlick that the content of al Jazeera Arabic was in a “legal gray area”. Swisscom followed shortly afterwards. Spokeswoman Alicia Richon admitted to SonntagsBlick that they had “received indications that Al Jazeera Arabic was in breach of Swiss law”. This was preceded by pressure from the Swiss parliament. In the winter session of the National Council, EDU National Councillor Erich Vontobel wanted to know from Media Minister Albert Rösti whether the Confederation “tolerates Hamas propaganda at Swisscom”. Rösti responded by clarifying that Swisscom is obliged to comply with the Swiss legal system.

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