Blocking Journalists Covering Gaza And The West Bank, Israel Sued 2 French Journalist Unions

JAKARTA - Two French journalist unions filed a lawsuit at the Paris Anti-terror Prosecutor's office on charges that Israel was hindering or obstructing the implementation of journalists' duties while covering Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Citing France 24, Tuesday local time, the International Journalists Federation (IFJ) and the French Journalists Association (PJP) filed a lawsuit last week. The two journalist unions said in a joint statement that Israel refused access to them covering entry into Gaza.

IFJ Secretary-General, Anthony Bellanger, said the lawsuit was the latest attempt to pressure Israel into opening Gaza to international press.

"For more than two years, IFJ has called for borders to be opened to foreign press so that they can ease the burden on our colleagues who are exhausted by the war for two years," said Bellanger.

Israel has not allowed international journalists to enter its blockaded Palestinian territory since the start of the war in October 2023.

However, Israel excluded journalists who joined their troops if they wanted to cover it so that it could be monitored even in the news.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) became one of a number of international news agencies in July 2025 urging Israel to allow journalists to enter and leave Gaza.

In the lawsuit file filed by IFJ and PJP obtained by AFP, it was stated that a journalist was chased by about 50 Israeli nationals armed with "firearms, gas cans and sticks" while covering the West Bank.

Dozens of Israeli illegal protesters carried out intimidation in front of Israeli soldiers who argued to maintain security.

According to the plaintiff's argument, the incident shows "the characteristics of war crimes".

The IFJ and PJP lawsuits in France are the latest of several similar complaints during the Gaza war, in which authorities have jurisdictions in cases of alleged violations of rights or crimes against French nationals.

In another case, the public prosecutor has asked the investigative judge to investigate allegations that the murder of two French children in Gaza in October 2023 was a war crime.

The violence in Israel's occupied West Bank has soared since October 2023, and has not stopped despite a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas taking effect in October 2025.