A joint letter by the executives of the world’s top media organisations has called on Israel to allow foreign journalists to enter and report from Gaza independently.
“Being on the ground is essential. It allows journalists to question official accounts on all sides, to speak directly with civilians and report back what they witness firsthand,” the top editors of more than two dozen media companies, including the BBC, CNN, Reuters and The Associated Press, said on Thursday.
“Freedom of the press is a basic value in any open society. It is time for the delays to end. Let us into Gaza,” they added.
The Israeli government has so far not responded to their request to discuss the situation.
The ban on the entry of foreign media professionals into Gaza has been in place since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023.
Initially, Israel said the ban was necessary because foreign journalists allowed into Gaza could give away the positions of Israeli soldiers on the ground and endanger them.
Other rationales have included that, as an active battle zone, it was too dangerous. The army has occasionally brought foreign reporters in on highly controlled trips, but media outlets have not been granted independent access.
Currently, “the heaviest fighting is over and there is a ceasefire in place”, the editors’ statement said.
“Journalists do not pose a threat to Israeli troops. There is a mechanism in place – however restrictive – that allows aid workers to enter and exit the territory. Why not journalists?”
In 2024, the Foreign Press Association filed a petition for independent access to Gaza to the Israeli Supreme Court but has yet to receive a verdict.
Several news channels have repeatedly expressed concern about the wellbeing of their Palestinian colleagues, who have been alone in covering the war while also experiencing it personally.
“They should not have to shoulder this burden alone, and they should be protected,” the statement said.
Since October 2023, more than 200 journalists and media workers have been killed, according to a tally from the Committee to Protect Journalists organisation, far more than in conflicts elsewhere, like Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The Gaza Government Media Office says at least 262 journalists have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the war.
Earlier this month, Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Wishah was killed in an Israeli drone attack while travelling in a car on al-Rashid Street, the coastal road that runs west of Gaza City.
Following his death, the network issued a statement, saying the killing reflected “a continued systematic policy of targeting journalists and silencing the voice of truth”.
Wishah was the 12th Al Jazeera journalist or media worker in Gaza to have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the war.
The others are Samer Abudaqa, Hamza al-Dahdouh, Ismail al-Ghoul, Ahmed al-Louh, Rami al-Rifi, Anas al-Sharif, Ibrahim al-Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Muhammad Qreiqeh, Muhammad Salama and Hussam Shabat.
