FPA calls on Israel to allow journalists 'without restriction'

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) on Saturday called on Israel to allow journalists "without restriction" access to the Gaza Strip, where journalists have been unable to independently enter from outside since the start of the war in October 2023.

"We call on Israel to ... to respect the fundamental principles of press freedom and allow unrestricted entry of journalists to Gaza," wrote the association, based in Jerusalem, in a statement released on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day.

The FPA has more than 350 members working for foreign media in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. An AFP journalist sits on its board of directors. The association accuses Israel of "imposing an unprecedented ban preventing foreign journalists from entering Gaza," viewing it as "a disgraceful stain for a country that presents itself as a model of democracy."

The FPA, which has filed an appeal with the Israeli Supreme Court to contest this ban, salutes the "Palestinian colleagues who continue to cover the news at the risk of their lives" but regrets that "Israeli restrictions severely harm independent reporting and deprive the world of a complete picture of the situation in Gaza."

The war that continues to devastate Gaza was triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. With one notable exception since that date, the only journalists who have been able to enter the Gaza Strip from outside have done so by being embedded with the Israeli army, their reports subject to military censorship.

The U.N. Office for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory issued a statement marking "solemnly" World Press Freedom Day, while Palestinian journalists continue to be killed or injured with impunity." The Office says it has independently verified the deaths of 211 journalists killed in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, including 28 women. The Israeli army has accused many journalists killed in its strikes of being "terrorists," members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad, an allied Islamist group.