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The BBC and three international news agencies have released a short film, urging Israel to allow foreign journalists in Gaza.
The movie, launched by the corporation with Agance France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP) and Reuters, was told by BBC David Dimbleby journalist.
He said: “International journalists must now be put into Gaza to share the weight with Palestinian reporters there in order to all bring the facts to the world.”
Foreign journalists have been banned from entering Gaza independently since Israel launched its offensive in 2023 after Hamas’ attacks on October 7th. A small number was taken in the strip by Israeli troops under controlled access.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have earlier said that “letting journalists are safely reported” in the gas, the military “accompanied them when they were on the battlefield.”
The BBC contacted the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) for comment.
Last year, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that restrictions on Gaza’s entry were justified on a security basis.
Deborah TURNESS, CEO of BBC News, said: “Almost two years have passed since October 7, when the world has witnessed Hamas’s atrocities. Since then, war has been raging in Gaza, but international journalists have not been allowed.
“We must now be put into Gaza. To work with local journalists, so we can all bring the facts to the world.”
The movie premieres in New York on Wednesday night at an event organized by the Committee for Protection of Journalists to coincide with the UN General Assembly. It features footage of historical events and atrocities filmed by journalists.
These include scenes from the day-to-day landings during World War II, the War in Vietnam, the hunger of Ethiopia of 1984, the protests in Tiananmann Square in China, the genocide of Rwanda, the Syrian refugee crisis and the war in Ukraine.
“In Ukraine, journalists from all over the world risk their lives every day to report people’s suffering,” Dimlbby says in the movie.
“But when it comes to gas, the reporting work falls solely to Palestinian journalists who pay terrible expenses, leaving less to testify.”
This is not the first when news organizations called on Israeli authorities to allow journalists in the territory.
In July, the BBC News, AFP, AP and Reuters issued a statement expressing a “desperate concern” for Gaza journalists who are experiencing difficult circumstances, including hunger and displacement.
In August, 27 countries, including the United Kingdom, supported a statement called on Israel to allow immediate access to foreign media to Gaza and convicted attacks against journalists there.
According to the UN Human Rights Service, at least 248 Palestinian journalists were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza.
Israel has repeatedly denied that his forces are directed at journalists.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to an attack led by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and 251 others were hostage.
Since then, at least 65 419 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the territory. The ministry’s numbers are cited by the UN and others as the most reliable source of statistics available to the victims.
