Jewish journalists sign letter calling for media access to Gaza - The Jewish Chronicle

A group of Jewish journalists have appealed to Israel and Egypt to allow international media into Gaza.

Seventeen Jewish British journalists have signed a letter calling on the two countries to lift the ban on foreign press, saying the refusal to allow access was “unjustified and unjustifiable,” and placed “an unacceptable restriction on our professional responsibility to inform readers, viewers and listeners accurately and impartially”.

Since the beginning of the Gaza War, only locals or foreign press accompanied by the IDF have been able to report from inside the Strip.

The signatories, including The News Agents hosts Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel, ITV political editor Robert Peston and Sunday Times Whitehall editor Gabriel Pogrund, say access should be restored “with immediate effect”.

“Journalists are the first line of accountability. Refusal of access is therefore a denial of the voices of all in Gaza. We owe it to the victims of this conflict – and all future conflicts – that journalists can report on what’s happening and tell the story to the fullest extent possible. That is not possible without being on the ground,” the letter, which was published in Press Gazette on Thursday, states.

“With the breakdown of the most recent ceasefire, restrictions on aid, and troops on the ground, it is critical that reporters are able to fulfil their important responsibility to report accurately, faithfully and independently, and to exercise the normal editorial judgements according to the highest ethical standards and journalistic practices.”

It went on: “We note that local media have done an extraordinary job reporting on events while themselves being displaced, hungry and at constant risk, but they should not carry this burden alone.”

Palestinian journalists and social media influencers have reported from inside Gaza since the start of the war, but many have been killed or injured, while others have been revealed to have connections with Hamas.

The letter claimed that “free and unfettered” media access to Gaza would mean “permitting credentialed, trusted and respected international journalists to work inside Gaza with immediate effect,” adding: We ask our elected representatives, humanitarian colleagues and our own community to demand such access.

“It is time for Israel and Egypt to stop using the pretext of battlefield security to prevent the world’s leading war reporters and foreign correspondents to be in situ to cover events,” it added.

Some journalists have been permitted into the territory under tightly controlled conditions with an IDF escort. Israel has maintained that the safety of journalists will be at risk if they enter Gaza unrestricted.

However, the letter dismisses this as a reason to prohibit access: “To suggest that the safety of journalists cannot be guaranteed is not a reason to deny access. International journalists are aware of the risks. These risks are for them to manage as they do all too frequently in conflict zones around the world. That is their job and that is their calling: to report from some of the most troubled places in the hope that humanity will not avert its eyes.”

The signatories are calling for international journalists to be allowed “direct in-person contact” in Gaza to write “the first draft of this baleful history".

They add that the request is “respectful” and would allow journalists to “do their jobs, independently and without fear or favour”.

The letter follows a similar intervention in February 2024, when more than 50 journalists, including the BBC's Jeremy Bowen, Lyse Doucet and Mishal Husain, sent an open letter calling on Israel and Egypt to provide "free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media".

The Foreign Press Association previously filed a petition with the Israeli court seeking to force the IDF to open a crossing into Gaza so international media could enter. The High Court refused the request, citing ongoing security concerns.

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