GAZA, (The Palestine Foundation Pakistan)Hamas Movement on Thursday accused the Israeli occupation authorities of deliberately imposing a total media blackout on Gaza by continuing to block international journalists from entering the besieged enclave.
In a statement, Hamas said that the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to grant the occupation government an additional 30 days to respond to a petition demanding media access “exposes a clear determination to maintain the blackout and hide the horrific crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in Gaza.”
The Movement added that this move “plainly reflects Israel’s ongoing effort to conceal the scale of atrocities and the massive destruction caused by its war machine in Gaza, as well as its systematic violations against civilians, infrastructure, and all aspects of life, crimes that amount to acts of genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Hamas stressed that these restrictions constitute “a blatant violation of press freedom,” saying that the occupation “fears the free press that would expose its heinous crimes and document the effects of genocide and the suffocating blockade imposed on Palestinians in Gaza.”
The Movement called on international media and human rights organizations to exert maximum pressure on Israel to allow immediate access for foreign journalists and to stand in solidarity with Palestinian reporters who continue to cover Israel’s genocidal campaign and its devastating humanitarian consequences.
More than 130 media outlets and press freedom organizations have already urged Israel to “immediately and unconditionally allow” international journalists into Gaza, after foreign correspondents were banned from entering since October 7, 2023, with only a few limited exceptions.
The Israeli authorities have kept Gaza closed to foreign media, permitting only brief, tightly controlled visits embedded with IOF units. Major international outlets have thus relied heavily on exhausted Palestinian journalists inside Gaza, who have endured relentless coverage for more than two years amid constant bombardment.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA), based in Jerusalem and representing international correspondents working in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, has filed a petition before Israel’s Supreme Court challenging the ongoing ban on media access to Gaza.
