Gaza (QNN)- Senior leaders from more than two dozen global news organizations signed an open letter calling for Israel to allow international media to independently enter the Gaza Strip, as Israel has barred foreign reporters from independently entering the territory since the start of the genocide in October 2023.
"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 organizations.
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 genocide in October 2023, Israel has barred foreign journalists from independently entering the Palestinian 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 occupation 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.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor stated that Israel is deliberately blocking foreign journalists and investigators to hide evidence of genocide and war crimes in Gaza.
In a statement, the group said Israel runs a “systematic policy” to erase physical evidence through field operations and administrative measures. These include preventing journalists and investigation committees from entering Gaza to stop any international accountability.
The monitor warned that Israel’s ban on foreign media is part of an institutional effort to keep its crimes “outside global scrutiny.”
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, Israeli forces have killed 260 Palestinian journalists since October 2023 to silence the Palestinian narrative. In December, a report by Reporters Without Borders found that Israel killed more journalists in 2025 than any other country.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that the Gaza Strip has become the world’s most dangerous place for journalists and humanitarian workers, warning that continued restrictions and attacks are undermining efforts to document events and deliver aid.
Euro-Med added that Israel has completely destroyed several towns, refugee camps, and neighborhoods. Satellite images and field testimonies showed Israeli forces leveling areas, removing debris, and transporting it to unknown sites, a move aimed at wiping out traces of mass killings and explosions.
The group cautioned that any delay in granting journalists access will give Israel more time to destroy remaining evidence and rewrite the story of Gaza’s devastation.
“I have no doubt that the prevention of international access, the killings of journalists, the targeting of media facilities, the punishment of [Israeli] outlets like Haaretz is part of a deliberate strategy on the part of Israel to conceal what is happening inside Gaza,” said the CPJ chief executive, Jodie Ginsberg.
The ban remains despite the ceasefire which took effect in October and has been violated by Israel more than 2000 times, killing hundreds and blocking much-needed aid from entering the enclave.
