The undersigned civil society organizations express their strong condemnation and deep concern over the severe restrictions on press imposed by the Israeli campaign. These include restrictions on the access of representatives of international media and press institutions to the Gaza Strip. Israel is complicit in the deliberate targeting of all local and international media institutions, which has resulted in the death of 148 journalists over the past eight months. Moreover, Israel has deliberately inflicted injuries, arrested dozens of journalists in inhumane conditions, and the destruction of press institutions’ premises in Gaza, including offices of international press institutions.

The silencing of the free press is part of the efforts to disseminate false narratives on the reality of the genocide on Palestinians in Gaza. It is also an attempt to prevent the arrival of international fact-finding committees and UN employees to Gaza to monitor the severe violations of international humanitarian law. This behavior is reinforced by the so-called "Israeli Supreme Court" rejecting a request submitted by the Foreign Press Association to allow international media access to the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli campaign aims to obscure the truth and falsify the facts on the ground, hindering the documentation and publication of the abhorrent occupation’s racist crimes, which so far have resulted in the death of nearly 50,000 Palestinian civilians and the injury of over 82,000 other civilians. This is in contravention of the special protection afforded to journalists under Article 79 of the Additional Protocol I to the four Geneva Conventions.

The undersigned organizations consider the targeting and banning of journalists and press institutions from accessing the Gaza Strip as a crime under the established principles of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. This includes the right to freedom of the press and freedom of opinion and expression as guaranteed by international law, particularly Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The human rights organizations affirm that the horrific Israeli international law violations committed against journalists and press institutions in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the crime of killing and targeting journalists, constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. This is in accordance with Articles 7 & 8 of the Rome Statute establishing the permanent International Criminal Court, and necessitates action by the Prosecutor of this court.

The undersigned organizations commend the work of journalists and press institutions, especially those that, after eight months of ceasing to promote the false Israeli narrative and realizing the horrific truth, have adopted the honest Palestinian narrative about what is happening. They affirm that some Western media coverage that promoted the lies and narratives of the Israeli occupation is complicit in the crime of misleading and fabricating excuses that have resulted in the shedding of much innocent blood in Gaza. Therefore, they demand:

1.      The international community and its specialized institutions to quickly take practical measures to ensure the cessation of the war on Gaza, investigate the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the occupation against journalists and press institutions, and allow safe and continuous access for journalists to Gaza.

2.      The international solidarity movement with the Palestinian people, and all Arab, regional, and international organizations, to act on all legal, political, diplomatic, human rights, and popular levels to ensure the entry of journalists and international investigation teams and to ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians and the dissemination of the victims’ suffering and voices.

3.      International solidarity movements with the Palestinian people, the International Federation of Journalists, press unions, and all Arab, regional, and international organizations are called upon to act on all legal, political, diplomatic, human rights, and popular levels to guarantee the entry of journalists and international investigative teams, to ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians, and to publicize the suffering and voices of the victims.