“On the one hand, the Israeli government has imposed a total blockade on the independent entry of journalists, both Israeli and international, into Gaza for the past two years. On the other, more than 210 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza – at least 56 of them during or in connection with their journalistic work – and are systematically vilified. The result is an unprecedented violation of press freedom and the public's right to reliable, independent, and pluralistic media reporting. The Supreme Court has the opportunity to finally uphold basic democratic principles in the face of widespread propaganda, disinformation, and censorship, and to end two years of meticulous and unrestrained destruction of journalism in and about Gaza. No excuse, no restriction can justify not opening Gaza to international, Israeli and Palestinian media. This is the appeal we are addressing to the Israeli Supreme Court by joining the Foreign Press Association petition.”

Since 7 October 2023, Israel has closed off Gaza and denied external journalists’ independent access to the besieged territory. It is to counter this ban that RSF has joined the FPA’s legal petition for the Gaza Strip's borders to be opened to independent entry for journalists, and filed an amicus brief with the Israeli Supreme Court on 15 October designed to help the judges understand the FPA's position.

Unprecedented violation of public’s right to information

Only a few journalists, mainly Israelis, have been able to enter the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, and this access has been granted only on various conditions, above all that they agree to be "embedded" with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). These very strict and controlled conditions do not allow journalists to work properly and therefore severely limit press freedom and its corollary, the public's right to information.

For these reasons, the Jerusalem FPA – which represents around 400 correspondents from international media outlets (including La Stampa, BBC, Financial Times, France 24, Time, Die Zeit, Le Monde, Reuters, Fox News, Guang Ming Daily, CCTV, Sky News, RTBF, Al Arabiya News Channel, The New York Times and Rai Uno) in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip – has chosen to challenge this Israeli policy in court. After rejecting the initial FPA petition in the very first months of the offensive, the Supreme Court has so far postponed its examination of this second petition six times.

Blockade abandons Palestinian journalists to grim fate

RSF is supporting the FPA petition with the aim of defending its demanding concept of the public's right to information, namely access to a plurality of free, independent and pluralist sources of reporting.

By preventing international journalists from entering Gaza, the Israeli blockade further isolates Gazan journalists, who must face Israeli smear campaigns alone in addition to having to cover the situation on the ground in Gaza in the most extreme conditions.

RSF has documented how journalists in Gaza have been constantly defamed and threatened since Israel launched its devastating counter-offensive in the Palestinian territories. The Israeli smear campaigns range from the dissemination of doctored images to the creation of an online platform designed to discredit them. In some cases, the accusations levelled against Palestinian journalists by the Israeli authorities have even been used as grounds for targeted IDF killings.

RSF submitted this amicus brief less than a month after it filed its fifth complaint to the International Criminal Court about Israeli war crimes against journalists in the Gaza Strip.