Foreign journalists based in Israel and the Palestinian Territories have stepped up their campaign calling on Israel to lift its ban on independent reporting from Gaza. The Foreign Press Association has launched an online petition and an online video, urging audiences around the world to stand up for their right to be informed.
The video, featuring some of the biggest names in international news, urges Isarael to “let us in”, describing its ban as “unprecedented”. The journalists say their Palestinian colleagues have been working under impossible conditions, and shouldn’t have to bear the burden alone. “For more than two years, Israel has the barred foreign press from entering Gaza to report freely” says the FPA: “this ban is an affront to press freedoms and the public’s right to information.”
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The campaign, supported by the Rory Peck Trust, comes as Israel’s Supreme Court declined to order Israel’s government to reverse the ban. The FPA says “at every turn, Israel has responded with stalling tactics and vague security arguments along with a refusal to engage in dialogue”. Israel and Egypt have prevented independent press access to Gaza since the beginning of the war. It has, however, facilitated reporting from inside Gaza by those embedded with the IDF.
Israel claims the presence of journalists would pose security risks to IDF soldiers and to the journalists themselves. News organisations say they are best placed to manage the risks faced by their teams.