More than 200 journalists, many of them well-known war correspondents with decades of experience, have signed a petition calling on the Israeli authorities to immediately allow independent access to the Palestinian territory.
Since the beginning of this huge crisis, Tel Aviv has maintained strict control of all border crossings and has only allowed a small number of informants into the area, always accompanied by its troops.
As the text indicates, the lack of access goes far beyond the suffering faced by the Palestinian victims of what has been described as a"genocide" by Holocaust experts, well-known Israeli intellectuals, NGOs or the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, and represents a further step in"the erosion of press freedom as one of the pillars of democracy."
"Foreign journalists remain barred from entering the country, blocked by restrictions imposed by Israel that silence independent monitoring. This is not just a humanitarian blockade, but an information blockade that undermines the public's right to information and journalism's democratic role in holding power accountable," the statement reads.
"Defending press access in Gaza is defending the democratic ideal that the truth is not the property of the powerful," adds the petition, which has coalesced around the message"Freedom to Report."
The initiative, launched by photographer Andre Liohn, has been signed by many of the leading names in reporting on war events over the past decades, including legendary photographers such as Don McCullin and Laurent Van der Stockt, reporters such as American John Lee Anderson ; figures from American networks such as CNN (Christiane Amanpour and Anderson Cooper ) and NBC (Richard Engels ); and various UK television channels such as the BBC itself ( Lyse Doucet, Jeremy Bowen or Fergal Keane ), Channel 4 ( Lindsey Hilsum ), or Sky News ( Alex Crawford ).
A large group of Spanish journalists have also joined the request, which has also been supported by representatives of various organizations in the sector such as Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The demand not only demands entry into Gaza but also states that if"the warring parties" once again ignore this requirement, the reporters will attempt to access the site"by any legitimate means, independently, collectively, or in coordination with humanitarian or civil society actors."
The statement recalls the "extraordinary work" being carried out by Palestinian journalists who remain on the ground and who have documented the events of the conflict on a daily basis.
Israel has killed nearly 200 Palestinian journalists since October 7, 2023, to the point that in that year, 75% of journalists killed worldwide died in Gaza, according to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
"These journalists, on whom the international media and the international community depend for information on the situation in Gaza, continue to report despite the grave personal risk they face. They continue despite the loss of family members, friends and colleagues, the destruction of homes and offices, constant displacement, communication disruptions and shortages of food and fuel," read another statement of solidarity with Palestinian reporters signed last year by more than 100 media outlets around the world.
In July, organizations such as AFP, AP, Reuters, and the BBC warned about the precarious situation of their own Palestinian employees.
"For months, we have watched helplessly as their living conditions have deteriorated dramatically. We have lost journalists in conflicts, some have been injured, others have been taken prisoner. But none of us remembers seeing our colleagues die of hunger," AFP said in a previous appeal.
