More than 100 media sign the Reporters Without Borders petition for international journalists to be allowed into the Gaza Strip

With 100 news media signatures now on the petition it launched on 9 January, Reporters Without Borders reiterates its appeal for support by the international media and again urges the Israeli authorities to lift the ban on foreign media access to the Gaza Strip that has been in force since November. Allowing journalists into the Gaza Strip would be the best way to ensure independent coverage of the events unfolding there. The only news coverage of the situation in Gaza comes from the 295 Palestinians who are working for a range of news organisations in extremely difficult and dangerous circumstances. Reporters Without Borders express its solidarity with all these media employees and deplores the deaths of four journalists since 27 December, three of them in the course of their work. The four journalists are Basel Faraj, Ihab el-Wahidi, Omar Silawi and Alaa Mortaji. Reporters Without Borders offers its sincere condolences to their families. Since the Israeli supreme court ruling on 31 December that foreign journalists should be allowed into the Gaza Strip in groups of 12, the Israel Defence Forces have permitted a very small number to enter. Reuters and the BBC were allowed to cover the activities of some Israeli soldiers for a few hours. The other journalists have been condemned to wait in Sderot or the hills that overlook Gaza. “Dignity,” a vessel chartered by the Free Gaza organisation carrying medical personnel and journalists, was driven back twice by the Israeli navy when it tried to approach the shore of the Gaza Strip. The campaign must continue against the blockade imposed on the international media by Israel. For the list of media that have signed the petition, go to this address on the Reporters Without Borders website: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=29928 News media that are interested in signing the appeal are asked to contact us at: [email protected]