Journalists' Syndicate Condemns the Occupation's Continued Ban on Foreign Media Entry into Gaza

SadaNews - The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate condemned the Israeli occupation forces for continuing to prevent foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip for the third consecutive year.

The syndicate stated in a statement today, Thursday, that this comes by a decision from the Israeli occupation government and the support of its highest court, which reversed its previous decision in its last session last year, to provide a clear plan for the entry of foreign press to Gaza, until January 4 of this year. However, it endorsed the Israeli government's request to maintain the ban.

It considered that this decision is part of a systematic policy aimed at isolating the Gaza Strip from the world and obscuring the truth about the genocide and ethnic cleansing being perpetrated by the occupation in the sector, in one of the most serious contemporary crimes against press freedom.

It asserted that this ban constitutes a blatant violation of Security Council Resolution 2222, which clearly confirms the necessity of protecting journalists and media workers during conflicts, and ensuring their ability to perform their duties without obstacles or threats, and is a gross violation of international agreements, foremost among them the Geneva Conventions, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Press Freedom.

It emphasized that preventing journalists from entering Gaza is not a "security measure" as the occupation claims, but a political tool of repression aimed at concealing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and severe violations committed against journalists, which have led to the martyrdom of 257 journalists since the beginning of the aggression in October 2023.

In light of this systematic policy and media extermination aimed at media disinformation as a means of evading responsibility for genocide and ethnic cleansing, the syndicate urged international journalist syndicates and unions, and foreign governments, to take a practical and firm stance, and not to settle for statements of condemnation, and to apply the principle of reciprocity with Israeli media, as long as the occupation continues to prevent foreign journalists from accessing Gaza.

It stressed the need for international judicial institutions to play their role, to compel the occupation to stop this ban immediately, and to hold it accountable for its repeated violations of international law, asserting that international silence regarding this policy represents complicity in the crime of concealing the truth.

The Journalists' Syndicate warned that the continued violations of the occupation will remain a stain of shame on the international system unless they are met with stringent and genuine measures that force it to respect international laws and norms, and the freedom of journalistic work.