Israel’s government has told the Supreme Court that a ban on international media access to Gaza should remain in place due to security risks in the enclave, according to a court submission.

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, triggered by the Hamas-led massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli authorities have barred foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated enclave.

Instead, Israel has allowed only a limited number of foreign reporters to enter Gaza on a case-by-case basis, embedded with its military forces operating inside the Strip. While Israeli journalists have been granted more opportunities to enter the enclave, they too must be embedded with troops to go in.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of foreign journalists working in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, filed a petition with the Supreme Court in 2024 seeking immediate and unrestricted access to the Gaza Strip for international media.

Since then, the court has given several extensions to the Israeli authorities to come up with a plan, but at a hearing last month, it set January 4 as a final deadline.

The court warned then that it would issue its decision regardless of whether the state filed its........

© The Times of Israel