The Israeli high court granted the Israeli government an additional two months to respond to a petition filed by the Foreign Press Association in Israel (FPA) seeking permission for international journalists to enter Gaza.
The opening of the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip does not guarantee that journalists will be allowed to enter the besieged and destroyed enclave, an Israeli court heard on Tuesday, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Representatives for the Israeli government argued that “the entry of journalists is not an obligation of the state,” Haaretz said.
The government claimed that allowing journalists access after more than two years of Israel’s genocidal assault on the enclave poses a security risk to both journalists and the Israeli occupation army’s forces. This argument was, however, rejected by the judge, who said, “It is not enough to cite ‘security risks’ without providing details,” the report stated.
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This came during an Israeli high court hearing regarding a petition filed by the Foreign Press Association in Israel (FPA) seeking permission for journalists to enter Gaza. The petition was filed in 2024 already and is the second request by foreign journalists.
The court granted the government an additional two months to respond to the petition.
Gilead Sher, the FPA’s attorney, said at the hearing that “We are two years after the war began, 16 months after the petition was submitted, and three months after a fundamental change in the situation in the Gaza Strip,” adding that in all this time, the government “has not changed its position, and there is a sweeping ban.”
Condemnation from Press Groups
The NGOs Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) joined the hearing as amici curiae. Their legal representative argued that armies globally have developed methods that allow media coverage during times of war without endangering them or the army forces, the report stated.
The CPJ said in a statement that they argued that “a blanket ban fails the tests of necessity and proportionality under international law, and highlighted the risk-based zoning system used by Ukraine as an alternative approach.”
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Today at 9:45 a.m., the #Israel’s Supreme Court heard arguments from representatives of CPJ, @FPAIsPal, @RSF_en and @itonaim demanding unrestricted access for foreign journalists to #Gaza. Blocking journalists blocks independent scrutiny. Judge Noam Sohlberg said a decision… pic.twitter.com/fo3eOTt2w2— CPJ MENA (@CPJMENA) January 26, 2026
The statement added that the prolonged ban “forces Palestinian journalists to carry the burden of frontline reporting under extreme conditions, leaving them exposed to violence, detention, hunger, and death,” noting that more than 250 journalists and media workers have been killed since October 7, 2023.
“By restricting independent media inside Israel and barring entry into Gaza, the Israeli government limits transparency, blocks scrutiny of its actions, and undermines the public’s right to information. Israel’s actions risk setting a dangerous precedent for press freedom in conflict zones worldwide,” the statement continued.
‘Serious Violation’ of International Law
The RSF said that Israel’s ongoing ban on international journalists’ unrestricted access to the Gaza Strip — which has been in place for over two years — constitutes a serious violation of international law and the public’s right to independent information.
To defend press freedom around the world, we must defend it in Gaza, writes actor @BardemAntarctic and CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg, in an op-ed for @el_pais.
Read the full op-ed: https://t.co/VehGjvITrJ pic.twitter.com/92BsB1O0lJ
— Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) January 24, 2026
“The decision by the Israeli army to cut Gaza off from reporters for more than two years is incomprehensible in light of the current military situation and the ongoing ceasefire,” Thibaut Bruttin RSF Director General, said in a statement. “We finally hope to move beyond this absurd situation towards a concrete dialogue on independent press access to the Gaza Strip, rather than ‘embedded’ access with the Israeli army, so that the press can fulfil its mission to inform.”
‘Limited Reopening’
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that Israel has “agreed to a limited reopening for pedestrian traffic only” after the remains of the last Israeli captive in Gaza, soldier Ran Gvili, were returned. His remains were returned on Monday.
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According to the RSF, at least 68 of the more than 200 journalists killed in Gaza were likely targeted or killed in the course of carrying out their work.
Complaints to ICC
The NGO has submitted five complaints to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and has been calling for independent access to Gaza for international journalists since 2023.
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Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which began in October 2023, has killed over 71,600 Palestinians and injured more than 171,000, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. A US-backed ceasefire implemented in October last year has been violated more than 1,300 times by Israel.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
GENOCIDAL israel CANNOT STOP the TRUTH!!!…Medical personnel entering GAZA through Rafah can listen to the stories from patients, see with their own eyes what israel has done and what the West has enabled with its bombs and vetoes… and these medical personnel can transmit by phone or internet or by their voices exactly what they have heard and seen…. as the zionists are about to discover, TRUTH cannot be silenced and it flies on its wings to all the Earth!!