The Israeli government and High Court have maintained a prohibition on foreign journalists entering Gaza since October 7, 2023. The Israeli onslaught in Gaza has killed more than 230 Palestinian journalists.

After the Israeli invasion of Gaza, Tel Aviv barred foreign journalists from entering the territory except in highly coordinated tours by the Israeli military. The lack of foreign correspondents and the murder of hundreds of Palestinian journalists has severely impacted reporting on the Israeli operations in Gaza.

For nearly two years, Israel has inflicted unimaginable horrors on the Palestinians in Gaza, cutting off all aid except for limited distributions by the Israel-linked Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Gazans say the assistance is dehumanizing, as hundreds of Palestinians have been murdered by Israeli troops near the aid sites.

If foreign journalists were permitted to enter Gaza, they would be able to provide unbiased documentation of the rampant war crimes committed by Israeli forces and the horrific conditions imposed on Palestinians – something Tel Aviv clearly does not want.

The Foreign Press Association in Israel has sued the government, demanding access to the Strip. However, the Israeli High Court has ruled in favor of the state. Additionally, the legal proceedings have been delayed, in part, by Israel’s bombing raid on Iran in June.

Last year, several top international outlets, including the New York Times, signed a letter demanding access to Gaza. It said:

“Nine months into the war, international reporters are still being denied access to Gaza except for rare and escorted trips arranged by the Israeli military. This effective ban on foreign reporting has placed an impossible and unreasonable burden on local reporters to document a war through which they are living. More than 100 journalists have been killed since the start of the war and those who remain are working in conditions of extreme deprivation. The result is that information from Gaza is becoming harder and harder to obtain and that the reporting which does get through is subject to repeated questions over its veracity.

We fully understand the inherent risks in reporting from war zones. These are risks that many of our organizations have taken over decades in order to investigate, document developments as they occur, and understand the impacts of wars the world over. 

A free and independent press is the cornerstone of democracy. We ask that Israel uphold its commitments to press freedom by providing foreign media with immediate, independent access to Gaza, and that Israel abides by its international obligations to protect journalists as civilians.”