Foreign media group fumes as Israeli government says Gaza press ban must be upheld |
An international media association on Tuesday criticized the Israeli government for maintaining its ban on unrestricted media access to Gaza, calling the move disappointing, at the same time as foreign nations continued to keep the heat on Israel over its decision to bar dozens of nonprofit organizations from operating in the enclave.
Israel’s barring of foreign media and decision to halt the work of 37 NGOs inside the Strip come nearly three months into a tenuous ceasefire, and as conditions remain dire for many of the war-torn enclave’s 2.3 million residents.
The government told the Supreme Court in a submission late Sunday that the ban on foreign journalists should remain in place, citing security risks in the Gaza Strip.
The submission was in response to a petition filed by the Foreign Press Association (FPA) — which represents hundreds of journalists in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza — seeking immediate and unrestricted access for foreign journalists to the Gaza Strip.
“The Foreign Press Association expresses its profound disappointment with the Israeli government’s latest response to our appeal for full and free access to the Gaza Strip,” the association said on Tuesday.
“Instead of presenting a plan for allowing journalists into Gaza independently and letting us work alongside our brave Palestinian colleagues, the government has decided once again to lock us out,” despite the ceasefire in the enclave, it added.
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, triggered by the Hamas-led massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli authorities have barred foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated enclave.
Instead, they have........