Israel Will Not Allow Foreign Journalists to Enter Gaza After Rafah Opening

Illustration of journalists in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. (Wikimedia Commons/Al Jazeera English)

JAKARTA - The Israeli government has stated that it will not allow foreign journalists to enter the Gaza Strip, Palestine, even after the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

This happened during a court hearing related to a petition filed by the Foreign Press Association in Israel (FPA) demanding that journalists be allowed into the Gaza Strip. The judges decided to postpone the verdict in the case until a future date.

The Haaretz newspaper reported that Israeli government representatives told the Supreme Court (the highest court), foreign journalists would not be allowed into Gaza due to security risks.

The court discussed the FPA's petition on Monday, which called for journalists to be allowed into the Gaza Strip.

The petition was filed a year and four months ago, but the court repeatedly granted the state's request to delay its decision.

This is the second petition filed on this matter, after the first was rejected immediately after the start of the war, according to the same source.

"Two years after the outbreak of the war, 16 months after the petition was filed, and three months after a fundamental change in the situation in the Gaza Strip, the state has not changed its position during this period, and comprehensive restrictions remain in place," said lawyer Gilad Sher, who represents the Foreign Press Association, reported WAFA (28/1).

He added that the applicants represent around 400 journalists from more than 130 media in around 30 countries, which broadcast in around 10 different languages, and reach hundreds of millions, even billions, of people around the world.