RSF - Reporters sans frontières
RSF - Reporters sans frontières
04/15/2026 | Press release | Archived content
Foreign press access to Gaza: RSF and partner organisations call on Israeli Supreme Court judges to accelerate proceedings
Attorneys representing the Foreign Press Association in Israel (FPA), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Union of Journalists in Israel (UJI) filed an emergency motion on 13 April asking Israeli Supreme Court judges to shorten the government's deadline to justify its continued ban on allowing foreign journalists independent access to the Gaza Strip. The public's right to information must be restored as quickly as possible.
In October 2025, RSF joined the legal proceedings brought by the FPA before the Israeli Supreme Court to request and end to the ban on foreign journalists' ability to independently access the Gaza Strip. Since the FPA's initial petition in December 2023, the judges have granted the Israeli government several extensions to justify its ongoing blockade. The judges have postponed the final deadline, initially set for 31 March, to 24 May.
"The lengthy processing of the FPA's petition before the Supreme Court has discouraged many journalists and citizens who believed this procedure was a viable path for the international press to be granted independent access to the Gaza Strip. With these repeated requests for delays, the Israeli government is attempting to postpone the entry of foreign reporters and correspondents into the Palestinian territory, as it is well aware of the decisive influence their work will have on leaders and public opinion. It's high time for the Supreme Court justices to stop yielding to the executive branch's wishes and rule on the merits of the case. The public's right to reliable information, in Israel and everywhere in the world, is at stake.
Thibaut Bruttin
RSF Director General
RSF was represented by its director general, Thibaut Bruttin, at a hearing before the Israeli Supreme Court on 29 January. In parallel, RSF and the CPJ alerted member states of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) to the urgent need to allow independent access for international journalists to the besieged Strip.
Alone and under fire: over 220 Palestinian journalists killed in two and a half years
Since the beginning of the war in October 2023, not a single foreign journalist has been allowed to enter Gaza to independently report on the ground, forcing Palestinian journalists from Gaza to bear the burden of informing the world all on their own.
More than 220 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza in over two and a half years. At least 70 of these journalists were likely targeted or killed while carrying out their work, according to RSF information. Two others have been missing since 7 October 2023. The NGO has submitted five complaints to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and has been calling for independent access to the Gaza Strip for international journalists since 2023.
Published on 15.04.2026
RSF - Reporters sans frontières published this content on April 15, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on April 17, 2026 at 10:00 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]