Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Israeli government has banned foreign journalists from entering the blockaded territory independently.
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Senior leaders from more than two dozen global news organizations signed an open letter published Thursday calling on Israel to allow international media independent access to the Gaza Strip.
“In every conflict, journalists face restrictions on entering war zones. But Gaza is different. For more than 930 days, Israel has barred foreign journalists from freely entering the territory,” said the letter, approved by editors of 31 media outlets.
They included the New York Times, the BBC, the Washington Post, Le Monde and the news agencies AP, Reuters and AFP.
“Being on the ground is essential,” the letter added, noting that in other areas of recent conflict, “foreign correspondents have still been able to report relatively independently.”
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by an attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Israeli government has banned foreign journalists from entering the blockaded territory independently.
Instead, Israel has only allowed a limited number of reporters to enter Gaza on a case-by-case basis regarding its military.
The ban “has shifted the responsibility for covering this devastating war and its aftermath almost entirely onto our Palestinian colleagues,” the letter said, adding that “they should not bear this burden alone and must protect themselves.”
The open letter was published by the Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories and which filed a petition with Israel’s Supreme Court in 2024 demanding free and independent access to Gaza.
The court has granted the Israeli government several extensions to file its response.
“Israel has given various reasons for maintaining this suspension, claiming at various times that soldiers or journalists would be in danger. But the fiercest fighting has ended and a ceasefire exists,” the letter said.
He added that the Israeli authorities had not responded to requests for access and dialogue and that appeals to the Supreme Court had gone unanswered.
“Freedom of the press is a core value in any open society. It’s time for the delays to end,” the letter said.
An AFP journalist sits on the FPA board.
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From Agence France-Presse
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