‘Will Endanger Soldiers’: Israel Apex Court Rejects Foreign Media Appeal for Access to War-Torn Gaza

Israel’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by international media organisations to allow independent access for journalists to the war-torn Gaza Strip.

Israel controls entry to the besieged Palestinian territory and has not allowed journalists to travel there independently since the start of the conflict on October 7.

The court argued the restrictions were justified on security grounds, as independent entry of journalists could “endanger” Israeli soldiers battling Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

In its ruling handed down on Monday, the court said allowing journalists inside Gaza could give away operational details, including troop locations, in a way that could “put them in real danger”.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Jerusalem, which floated the petition as a representative of dozens of international media organisations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, said it was “disappointed” by the ruling.

“Israel’s ban on independent foreign press access to Gaza, for 95 days straight, is unprecedented,” the FPA said in a statement on Tuesday.

The court said it was seeking to find a balance between the safety of journalists and soldiers with the “freedom of the press”.

It stressed that foreign and Israeli journalists are allowed limited access to Gaza under Israeli military escort.

But the FPA said the military escorts have been “limited to select foreign media” and are “highly controlled”.

“We believe Israel’s concerns about reporting on troop positions do not withstand scrutiny at a time when Palestinian journalists continue to operate in Gaza, and when it is vital for foreign press to access areas of Gaza where troops are not present,” the FPA said.

At least 79 journalists and media professionals, the vast majority Palestinian, have been killed since the war began more than three months ago, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

The International Criminal Court said on Tuesday it was investigating potential crimes against journalists since the outbreak of war on October 7.

On Sunday, Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera said an Israeli strike killed two of its Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip.

After the latest deaths, the United Nations rights office said Monday that it was “very concerned” by the high death toll of media workers in the territory.

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas gunmen launched their October 7 attack that resulted in about 1,140 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel has responded with relentless bombardment and a ground invasion of Gaza that have killed at least 23,210 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.