Foreign Correspondents Association Denounces Nine Months Without Access to Gaza
Photo: X/ @AgenciaAnadolu
July 7, 2024 Hour: 3:48 pm
The Foreign Correspondents Association (FPA) in Israel and the Palestinian Territories denounced in a statement on Sunday the veto of foreign press access to the Gaza Strip when today was nine months since the beginning of the war.
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“The Foreign Press Association expresses its shock and profound disappointment that nine months into a devastating war, Israel continues to bar independent access for the international media from Gaza” says the FPA.
This association pointed out that “never before” had Israel enforced such a long and strict information blackout, in which the state ruled by Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected requests to enter the Strip.
“It has repeatedly rejected our appeals for access, fought us in court to uphold this draconian ban and offered just a handful of highly controlled “embed” opportunities for a small number of our members” points out the Association.
Among them, this Sunday it was announced that a small group of journalists from The Associated Press had had access to Rafah, in the southern end of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army continues to fight.
In a tour that reached the center of the city, aboard military vehicles discovered, international journalists could see the devastation that affects much of the infrastructure of the town, with abandoned and semi-destroyed buildings, and piles of rubble along the road.
The FPA recalls that Palestinian journalists inside Gaza continue to face unprecedented threats and restrictions on movement, highlighting their courage “as they courageously try to cover this story.”
This Association it is concerned about what Israel doesn’t want international journalists to see in the Palestinian occupied territories and they “Once again call on Israel to allow international journalists unfettered and independent access to Gaza.”
Since 7 October, 158 journalists have been killed in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli offensive. Yesterday alone five Palestinian journalists died in the central area of the Gaza Strip.
Fuente: EFE // foreignpressassociation.online