Foreign press group welcomes Israel’s court deadline on Gaza access

The supreme court sets Jan 4 as the final deadline for the state to respond to the media petition after two years of delay.

Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza independently since the October 2023 war triggered by Hamas’s attack. (EPA Images pic)

JERUSALEM:

 The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem on Sunday welcomed the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to set Jan 4 as the deadline for Israel to respond to its petition seeking media access to Gaza.

Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated territory.

Israel has instead allowed, on a case-by-case basis, a handful of reporters to accompany its troops into the blockaded Palestinian territory.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition to the supreme court last year, seeking immediate access for international journalists to the Gaza Strip.

On October 23, the court held a first hearing on the case, and decided to give Israeli authorities one month to develop a plan for granting access.

Since then the court has given several extensions to the Israeli authorities to come up with their plan, but on Saturday it set Jan 4 as a final deadline.

“If the respondents (Israeli authorities) do not inform us of their position by that date, a decision on the request for a conditional order will be made on the basis of the material in the case file,” the court said.

The FPA welcomed the court’s latest directive.

“After two years of the state’s delay tactics, we are pleased that the court’s patience has finally run out,” the association said in a statement.

“We renew our call for the state of Israel to immediately grant journalists free and unfettered access to the Gaza Strip.

“And should the government continue to obstruct press freedoms, we hope that the supreme court will recognise and uphold those freedoms,” it added.

An AFP journalist sits on the board of the FPA. - FMT