As the situation in Gaza gets more critical amid the Israel-Hamas war, foreign media want more independent access to document the humanitarian crisis unraveling in that area, with both journalists and news leaders joining in.
On the journalist side, reporters from CNN, NBC News, ABC News and CBS News are part of a consortium of more than 50 broadcast journalists who sent an open letter to the Israeli and Egyptian embassies requesting “free and unfettered access” to foreign media inside Gaza.
The journalists wrote, “Almost five months into the war in Gaza, foreign reporters are still being denied access to the territory, outside of the rare and escorted trips with the Israeli military.”
They added, “We urge the Governments of Israel and Egypt to allow free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media. We call on the government of Israel to openly state its permission for international journalists to operate in Gaza and for the Egyptian authorities to allow international journalists access to the Rafah Crossing.
There is intense global interest in the events in Gaza and for now, the only reporting has come from journalists who were already based there.”
Signatories from U.S.-based news outlets who joined U.K.-based journalists from BBC News, ITN, Sky News and Channel 4 in signing the letter include:
- Ian Pannell, ABC News
- James Longman, ABC News
- Charlie D’Agata, CBS News
- Chris Livesay, CBS News
- Holly Williams, CBS News
- Ian Lee, CBS News
- Imtiaz Tyab, CBS News
- Ramy Inocencio, CBS News
- Christiane Amanpour, CNN
- Clarissa Ward, CNN
- Hala Gorani, NBC News
- Molly Hunter, NBC News
- Richard Engel, NBC News
In December 2023, CNN’s Ward was the first journalist from a Western TV news outlet to independently report from inside southern Gaza and cover what’s transpiring in the war.
Ward and her crew, in that brief visit, documented the toll the ongoing war has taken on Palestinian civilians within Gaza. They also visited local hospitals, which were overwhelmed with patients and working with inadequate facilities.
The latest numbers from the Hamas-run health ministry revealed on Thursday that over 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023.
Leaders join in
Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) got the leaders of more than 30 news organizations around the world, including from U.S. broadcast and cable news outlets such as CNN, NBC News, ABC News and CBS News, to join in another open letter that shows strong and unified support for journalists reporting from Gaza.
“For nearly five months, journalists and media workers in Gaza – overwhelmingly, the sole source of on-the-ground reporting from within the Palestinian territory – have been working in unprecedented conditions,” the letter stated.
The letter continued, adding, “These journalists – on whom the international news media and the international community rely for information about the situation inside Gaza – continue to report despite grave personal risk.”
With support from the World Association of Publishers, the CPJ managed to get signatures from publishers from countries including Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, India, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Signatories from the U.S. include:
- Kim Godwin, president, ABC News
- Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, president, CBS News
- Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO, CNN Worldwide
- Rebecca Blumenstein, president, editorial, NBC News
Read the letter sent to the Israeli and Egyptian embassies and signed by the 50+ journalists and the letter signed by the media leaders below.
The letter from journalists:
Almost five months into the war in Gaza, foreign reporters are still being denied access to the territory, outside of the rare and escorted trips with the Israeli military.
We urge the Governments of Israel and Egypt to allow free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media. We call on the government of Israel to openly state its permission for international journalists to operate in Gaza and for the Egyptian authorities to allow international journalists access to the Rafah Crossing.
There is intense global interest in the events in Gaza and for now, the only reporting has come from journalists who were already based there.
It’s vital that local journalists’ safety is respected and that their efforts are bolstered by the journalism of members of the international media. The need for comprehensive on-the-ground reporting of the conflict is imperative.
The risks of conflict reporting are well understood by our organisations who have decades of experience of reporting in warzones around the world and in previous wars in Gaza.
The letter from media leaders:
We, the undersigned, stand united with Palestinian journalists in their call for safety, protection, and the freedom to report.
For nearly five months, journalists and media workers in Gaza – overwhelmingly, the sole source of on-the-ground reporting from within the Palestinian territory – have been working in unprecedented conditions: at least 89 have been killed in the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, more journalists than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year.
These journalists – on whom the international news media and the international community rely for information about the situation inside Gaza – continue to report despite grave personal risk. They continue despite the loss of family, friends, and colleagues, the destruction of homes and offices, constant displacement, communications blackouts, and shortages of food and fuel.
Journalists are civilians and Israeli authorities must protect journalists as noncombatants according to international law. Those responsible for any violations of that longstanding protection should be held accountable. Attacks on journalists are also attacks on truth. We commit to championing the safety of journalists in Gaza, which is fundamental for the protection of press freedom everywhere.