Israel’s unacceptable war on freedom of information in the Gaza Strip

TThe quality of a democracy is measured by many criteria, including respect for freedom of information. By this yardstick, Israel’s determination to silence Palestinian and international media in Gaza can only give cause for concern and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. A joint investigation coordinated by Forbidden Stories with 13 international media outlets, including The Worldhighlights, despite Israeli denials, an aggressive strategy towards the press which has been relentlessly pursued since the start of the merciless war against the narrow strip of land following the massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas on 7 October.

So far, over a hundred Palestinian journalists have been killed in bombings, despite wearing helmets and bulletproof vests that clearly identified their profession. This unprecedented toll means that in the minds of Gazans they are now associated with the idea of ​​imminent death and it is best to keep them at a distance.

As our investigation shows, the Israeli military appears to be systematically targeting media representatives. The destruction of the Press House in Gaza, which was financially supported by Norway and Switzerland, and the assassination of its founder, Belal Jadallah, who was killed by tank fire while taking an evacuation route declared safe by the Israeli army, are examples of the military’s tactics, which spare nothing and no one. The attacks on international press agencies, including Agence France-Presse and Reuters, are a typical example.

Moral Decay

Never before has Gaza been closed to international journalists for months. This information blockade imposed by Israel must be ended as soon as possible. The democracies allied with Israel have accepted it without criticism, while the same democracies rightly denounce authoritarian regimes’ violations of the obligation to provide information. A double standard that is accelerating the moral decline of this predominantly Western camp.

The Israeli army had already bombed international press offices in 2021, during the previous Gaza war. A year later, Qatari Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by an Israeli soldier’s gunfire while covering a military operation in Jenin in the West Bank. The army initially denied this. She was wearing a flak jacket that indicated her status as a journalist. These warnings should have alarmed those who continue to see Israel for what it was, not what it is becoming under pressure from the far right.

Israel’s strategy of silencing the press is linked to a nationwide denial. The authorities’ ban on Al Jazeera is the most obvious and disturbing proof of this in this age of information without borders. The self-censorship of the Israeli press, which, with very rare exceptions such as the daily HaaretzRefusing to report on the ongoing carnage in the Gaza Strip represents a further break with a past in which Israel watched the war and its horrors with open eyes.