Media organisations demand that Israel allows access to Gaza in open letter

The Foreign Press Association petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court for free access, but responses are delayed. Photo / Getty Images

Senior leaders from more than two dozen global news organisations have signed an open letter calling for Israel to allow international media to independently enter the Gaza Strip.

“In every conflict, journalists face limits on access to war zones. But Gaza is different. For more than 930 days, Israel has barred foreign reporters from independently entering the territory,” said the letter, endorsed by editors from 31 media organisations, published on Thursday.

They included The New York Times, the BBC, The Washington Post, Le Monde, and news agencies AP, Reuters, and AFP.

“Being on the ground is essential,” the letter added, noting that in other recent conflict zones, “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 barred foreign journalists from independently entering the blockaded territory.

Instead, Israel has allowed only a limited number of reporters to enter Gaza on a case-by-case basis on embeds with its military.

The ban “has pushed the responsibility for covering this devastating war and its aftermath almost entirely on our Palestinian colleagues”, the letter said, adding that “they should not have to shoulder this burden alone, and they should be protected”.

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 the Israeli Supreme Court in 2024 seeking free and independent Gaza access.

The court has since granted the Israeli Government several extensions to submit its response.

“Israel has given different reasons for maintaining this blackout, claiming at various times that soldiers or journalists would be in danger. But the heaviest fighting is over and there is a ceasefire in place,” the letter said.

It added that Israeli authorities had not responded to requests for access and dialogue, and that Supreme Court appeals had gone unanswered.

“Freedom of the press is a basic value in any open society. It is time for the delays to end,” the letter said.

An AFP journalist sits on the board of the FPA.

-Agence France-Presse