Israel’s Supreme Court on Thursday postponed hearing a petition filed by an organization representing international media in Israel and the Palestinian territories demanding independent access for journalists to Gaza.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, Israeli authorities have barred foreign journalists from entering the devastated territory, taking only a handful of reporters in for tightly controlled visits alongside its soldiers.
On Thursday, Israel’s Supreme Court began hearing a petition filed by the Foreign Press Association (FPA) seeking access to Gaza.
The public prosecutor acknowledged that “the situation has changed” and asked for an additional 30 days to investigate the circumstances. A date for the next hearing has not been set.
Read also | Israel and Hamas agree to…’: Trump says ‘first steps to eternal peace’
What did the FPA chairman say?
Speaking before the hearing, FPA chairwoman Tania Kraemer said: “We have waited a really long time for this day. We are saying that we hope to get to Gaza, that they will open Gaza after this long blockade, and we hope to get there and work alongside our Palestinian colleagues.”
The FPA, which represents hundreds of foreign journalists, began calling for independent access to Gaza soon after the war broke out in October 2023 following a Hamas attack on Israel.
However, the Israeli authorities have repeatedly ignored these requests.
An AFP journalist sits on the FPA board.
“We have the right to inform the public, the people of the world, the Israeli public, the Palestinian population,” Nicolas Rouget, a member of the FPA board, said outside the courtroom.
“We feel that we have to stand with them, with our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza, who have been the only ones able to inform the public about this conflict for the past two years,” he added.
Read also | Who is Francesca Albanese? UN expert sanctioned by Trump for criticizing Israel
The FPA petition was joined by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
While Israel has prevented foreign reporters from entering Gaza, its forces have killed more than 210 Palestinian journalists in the territory, Antoine Bernard, RSF’s director of advocacy and aid, said on Tuesday.
Read also | Iran’s Khamenei calls Israel’s Gaza aid policy ‘a cheap form of genocide’
“The result is an unprecedented violation of press freedom and the public’s right to reliable, independent and pluralistic media coverage,” Bernard said.
“The Supreme Court has an opportunity to finally vindicate basic democratic principles in the face of widespread propaganda, disinformation and censorship and end two years of careful and wanton destruction of journalism in and about Gaza.
“No excuse, no restriction can justify not opening Gaza to the international, Israeli and Palestinian media,” he said.
On October 10, Israel declared a ceasefire and began withdrawing troops from some areas of the territory, as part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war.
