The International Media Association expressed disappointment after Israel’s Supreme Court again postponed a decision on a petition seeking free and independent media access to Gaza, according to a statement sent to the media on Wednesday.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by an attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Israeli government has banned foreign journalists from entering the blockaded territory independently.
Instead, Israel allowed only a limited number of journalists to enter Gaza, individually and under military escort.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) filed its petition in 2024, after which the court granted the government several extensions of time to file a response.
After the last hearing on Monday, the court again postponed its decision on the FPA petition, announcing an update until March 31.
– The Association of Foreign Journalists is deeply disappointed that the Israeli Supreme Court has once again postponed the decision on our petition for free and independent media access to Gaza – the FPA statement states.
– It is even more worrying that the court is apparently acting under the influence of the state’s classified security arguments, which were presented behind closed doors and without the presence of FPA lawyers – they added.
This secret process does not give us the opportunity to challenge these arguments and paves the way for the continuation of the arbitrary and indefinite closure of Gaza to foreign journalists, the statement added.
The FPA stressed that there are no security reasons to justify what it calls a “general ban” on media access to Gaza.
The ban was imposed “at a time when aid workers and other officials are allowed to enter Gaza,” the FPA said.
In earlier filings, the government argued that allowing journalists into Gaza posed a security risk to the military, especially while troops were still searching for the remains of the last hostage held in Gaza.
However, the remains of Ren Gvili, the last Israeli prisoner, have now been returned to Israel, which according to the FPA opens the way for independent media access to Gaza.
– FPA calls on the court to reconsider its decision and emphasizes the urgency of free and independent access to Gaza – the association pointed out.
Palestinian militants took 251 people hostage on October 7, 2023, in an attack that left 1,221 dead, according to AFP records based on official Israeli figures.
Israeli retaliation has led to the deaths of at least 71,662 Palestinians, according to figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health, which the United Nations considers reliable.
Media access restrictions and the blockade meant that the AFP and other media could not independently verify the number of casualties or freely report on all violent events.
(Vijesti.ba)
