\u201cJournalists and media workers play an essential role in putting the spotlight on the devastating reality of war. Access to conflict zones is vital to carrying out this role effectively. We oppose all attempts to restrict press freedom and block entry to journalists during conflicts,\u201d the member states added.<\/p>\n
Since the Hamas terror group\u2019s October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel started the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, limited numbers of foreign and Israeli journalists have been able to enter the enclave only with the Israeli army and under strict military censorship rules.<\/p>\n
The government has rebuffed requests to allow media to enter freely, saying the situation in Gaza is too dangerous to allow access without military escort.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month, when asked about the issue, that he\u2019d ordered the military<\/a> to bring in \u201ca lot\u201d more foreign journalists. Most reporters, however, are seeking unrestricted access to the Strip without an IDF escort.<\/p>\n \t A person gestures in front of two images of slain Al Jazeera journalists, at least one of whom Israel says was a Hamas fighter as well, while protesters participate in a \u201cMarch for Humanity\u201d against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza on August 16, 2025 in New York City. (Stephanie Keith\/Getty Images North America\/Getty Images via AFP)<\/p>\n The initial signatories to the letter were Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Canada also co-signed the statement after its publication.<\/p>\n The United States, which plays a leading role in the coalition, did not join the statement.<\/p>\n The coalition added: \u201cWe also strongly condemn all violence directed against journalists and media workers, especially the extremely high number of fatalities, arrests and detentions,\u201d adding: \u201cDeliberate targeting of journalists is unacceptable.<\/p>\n Israel has been accused of targeting Gazan journalists amid the war, but the military says it has no such policy, and that many of the people identified as journalists who have been killed during the war were actually terror operatives.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, an Israeli strike in Gaza City killed a prominent reporter<\/a> for the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, along with five of his colleagues. The Israel Defense Forces had maintained for some time, however \u2014 publishing as evidence documents it said were seized in Gaza \u2014 that the reporter, Anas al-Sharif, was the commander of a Hamas cell charged with firing rockets at Israeli civilians and IDF troops.<\/p>\n \t Mourners march with the bodies of Al Jazeera journalists, one of whom Israel alleges, citing seized Hamas documents, was also a senior member of the terror group, who were killed in an overnight Israeli strike on their tent in Gaza City, from Shifa hospital to their burial at the Sheikh Radwan cemetery in Gaza City on August 11, 2025. (Omar Al-Qattaa \/ AFP)<\/p>\n \u201cIntelligence and documents from Gaza, including rosters, terrorist training lists and salary records, prove he was a Hamas operative integrated into Al Jazeera,\u201d the military said of Sharif after his death.<\/p>\n In response to a query by The Times of Israel as to why the IDF chose to target Sharif when he was with five other journalists in a tent near Gaza City\u2019s Shifa Hospital, a military source claimed that several of the other journalists<\/a> were also members of terror groups.<\/p>\n The MFC statement, which made no reference to specific cases, did not acknowledge Israel\u2019s allegation that some of those killed were combatants.<\/p>\n \t Displaced Palestinians gather around an impact crater, left behind after an Israeli strike, at a camp for internally displaced people in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 21, 2025. (Eyad Baba \/ AFP)<\/p>\n The 28 states said Thursday that they \u201cstrongly condemn all violence directed against journalists and media workers, especially the extremely high number of fatalities, arrests and detentions.\u201d<\/p>\n According to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at least 242 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began.<\/p>\n The statement called on Israel to \u201cmake every effort to ensure that media workers in Gaza, Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem \u2013 local and foreign alike \u2013 can conduct their work freely and safely.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, the countries said they \u201creiterate calls for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of the remaining hostages<\/a>, unhindered flow of humanitarian aid, and for a path towards a two-state solution, long-term peace and security.\u201d<\/p>\n
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