Benjamin Netanyahu vows to remove Al Jazeera from Israel 'for inciting violence'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to expel Arabic news station Al Jazeera from Israel, claiming the network is "inciting" violence.

Tensions in Jersusalem have flared in recent days, as Palestinians resisted Israel's heightened security measures near the holy Temple Mount compound.

Al Jazeera – which has long been accused of bias against Israel – has covered the issue.

"The Al Jazeera network continues to incite violence around the Temple Mount," Mr Netanyahu wrote in Hebrew in a Facebook post.

“I have appealed to law enforcement agencies several times to close the Al-Jazeera office in Jerusalem.

"If this does not happen because of legal reasons, I will work to legislate the laws required to remove Al Jazeera from Israel.”

Israel's introduction of metal detectors outside the holy site prompted deadly clashes.

The government said the measures were needed to prevent weapons entering the holy grounds, following the killing of two Israeli policemen.

Security services said the gunmen had hidden their weapons on the site, which Jews call Temple Mount and Muslims know as Haram al-Sharif.

Four Palestinians were killed in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank during angry protests, while three Israelis were killed by a Palestinian claiming retribution.

On Tuesday, Israel removed the metal detectors, saying it planned on replacing them with less obtrusive surveillance.

Al-Jazeera has also faced government censure in neighbouring Egypt when in 2014, the Arab state jailed three al-Jazeera journalistsfor seven years and closed the network's offices. Two have been released but a third remains in prison.

Egypt, along with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emitares and Bahrain, has called for Qatar to close Al Jazeera.