CPJ and Global Media Call for Reporter access to Gaza
By The Committee to Protect Journalists
HAVANA TIMES – More than 130 global leaders of news and press freedom organizations called on world leaders, governments, and international institutions on Thursday to act immediately to ensure journalists from outside Gaza are given immediate, independent access to the territory, in a letter coordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters without Borders (RSF).
After 20 months of almost complete exclusion of international media from Gaza, the letter demands the protection of Palestinian journalists currently reporting under siege in the territory.
Israeli authorities have prevented international journalists from entering Gaza since the start of the war, except for brief excursions, tightly controlled by the military. Meanwhile, local Palestinian journalists have risked their lives to report under extreme conditions of violence, displacement, and hunger. At least 181 journalists and media workers have been killed – 179 of them by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon since the war started, making it the deadliest conflict for the press since CPJ started recording data in 1992.
“When journalists are killed in such unprecedented numbers and independent international media is barred from entering, the world loses its ability to see clearly, to understand fully, and to respond effectively to what is happening. Access must be restored, and the rights of journalists must be respected,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “Journalists must be allowed to report without fear for their lives.”
The letter notes that, at a critical time of renewed military operations and humanitarian efforts in Gaza, ensuring the presence of independent journalists is essential for transparency, accountability, and the public’s right to know.
In addition, the signatories called on Israel to meet its international obligations to protect journalists and immediately allow unrestricted access to Gaza for international media. The letter also appealed to world leaders and international institutions to demand protections for all journalists working in Gaza.
The full letter and list of signatories are available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.
Open letter from media and press freedom organizations on Gaza access:
We, the undersigned, call for immediate, independent, and unrestricted international media access to Gaza and for full protection of journalists who continue to report under siege.
For 20 months, the Israeli authorities have refused to grant journalists outside of Gaza independent access to the Palestinian territory – a situation that is without precedent in modern warfare. Local journalists, those best positioned to tell the truth, face displacement and starvation. To date, nearly 200 journalists have been killed by the Israeli military. Many more have been injured and face constant threats to their lives for doing their jobs: bearing witness. This is a direct attack on press freedom and the right to information.
We understand the inherent risks in reporting from war zones. These are risks that many of our organizations have taken over decades in order to investigate, document developments as they occur, and understand the impacts of war.
At this pivotal moment, with renewed military action and efforts to resume the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, it is vital that Israel open Gaza’s borders for international journalists to be able to report freely and that Israel abides by its international obligations to protect journalists as civilians.
We call on world leaders, governments, and international institutions to act immediately to ensure this.
Signed by:
1. Actualite.cd, Patient Ligodi, Founder (Democratic Republic of Congo)
2. Agence France-Presse, Phil Chetwynd, Global News Director (France)
3. Agência Pública, Natália Viana, Executive Director (Brazil)
4. Al Araby Al Jadeed, Hussam Kanafani, Director of Media Sector
5. Al Jazeera Center of Public Liberties & Human Rights, Sami Alhaj, Director (Qatar)
6. Al-Masdar Online, Ali al-Faqih, CEO (Yemen)
7. Alternative Press Syndicate (Lebanon)
8. Amazônia Real, Kátia Brasil, Director (Brazil)
9. Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), Rawan Daman, Director General
10. ARTICLE 19
11. Asia Pacific Report, David Robie, Editor (New Zealand)
12. Associated Press, Julie Pace, Executive Editor and Senior Vice President (USA)
13. Association of Foreign Press Correspondents, Nancy Prager-Kamel, Chair (USA)
14. Bahrain Press Association (Bahrain)
15. Birama Konaré, Director General, Joliba (Mali)
16. BirGun Daily, Yasar Aydin, News Coordinator (Turkey)
17. Brecha, Betania Núñez, Journalistic Director (Uruguay)
18. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Deborah Turness, CEO, BBC News (UK)
19. Bulatlat, Ronalyn V. Olea, Editor-in-Chief (Philippines)
20. CamboJA, Nop Vy, Executive Director (Cambodia)
21. Casbah Tribune, Khaled Drareni, Editorial Director (Algeria)
22. Cedar Centre for Legal Studies (CCLS) (Lebanon)
23. Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG), Milka Tadić Mijović, Editor-in-Chief
24. Churchill Otieno, Executive Director, Eastern Africa Editors Society & President, Africa Editors Forum (Kenya)
25. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Jodie Ginsberg, CEO
26. Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) (Iraqi Kurdistan)
27. Confidencial.digital, Carlos F. Chamorro, Director (Nicaragua, in exile)
28. Connectas, Carlos Eduardo Huertas, Director (The Americas)
29. Daraj Media, Hazem al Amin, Editor-in-Chief, Alia Ibrahim, CEO and Diana Moukalled, Managing Editor (Lebanon)
30. Dawn newspaper, Zaffar Abbas, Editor (Pakistan)
31. De Último Minuto, Hector Romero, Director (Dominican Republic)
32. Delfino.CR, Diego Delfino Machín, Director (Costa Rica)
33. Deník Referendum, Jakub Patocka, Editor in chief and publisher,
34. Digital Radio-télévision DRTV, William Mouko Zinika Toung-Hou, Assistant Director of Information (Congo-Brazzaville)
35. Droub, Murtada Ahmed Mahmoud Koko, General Director (Sudan)
36. Efecto Cocuyo, Luz Mely Reyes, Director (Venezuela)
37. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) (Egypt)
38. El Ciudadano, Javier Pineda, Director (Chile)
39. El Diario de Hoy, Óscar Picardo Joao, Editorial Director (Salvador)
40. El Espectador, Fidel Cano Correa, Director (Colombia)
41. El Faro, Carlos Dada, Co-founder and Director (El Salvador)
42. El Mostrador, Héctor Cossio, Director (Chile)
43. El Sol de México, Martha Citlali Ramos, National Editorial Director (Mexico)
44. El Universal, David Aponte, Directeur général éditorial (Mexico)
45. elDiarioAR, Delfina Torres Cabreros, Journalistic Director (Argentina)
46. ENASS, Salaheddine Lemaizi, Director (Morocco)
47. Équipe Média, Mohamed Mayara, General Coordinator (Western Sahara)
48. European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Ricardo Gutiérrez, General Secretary
49. European Broadcasting Union, Liz Corbin, Director of News
50. Eyewitness Media Group, Patrick Mayoyo, Director Editorial Innovations
51. Financial Times, Roula Khalaf, Editor (UK)
52. Forbidden Stories, Laurent Richard, Founder (France)
53. Foreign Press Association, Deborah Bonetti, Director (London)
54. Foreign Press Association, the board (Israel and the Palestinian Territories)
55. Foundation for Investigative Journalism – FIJ, Fisayo Soyombo, Founder and Editor (Nigeria)
56. France 24, Vanessa Burggraf, Director (France)
57. Free Press Unlimited, Ruth Kronenburg, Executive Director
58. Front Page Africa, Rodney Sieh, Editor in Chief and Editor (Liberia)
59. GabonClic.info, Randy Karl Louba, Director, (Gabon)
60. Geneva Health Files, Priti Patnaik, Founder
61. Geo News, Azhar Abbas, Managing Editor (Pakistan)
62. Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), Emilia Diaz-Struck, Executive Director
63. Global Reporting Centre, Sharon Nadeem, Producer and Head of Partnerships
64. Guineematin.com, Nouhou Baldé, Founder and administrator, (Guinea)
65. Haaretz, Aluf Benn, Editor in Chief (Israel)
66. 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, Nadim Nashif, Executive Director (Palestine\Israel)
67. Hildebrandt en sus trece, César Hildebrandt, Director, (Peru)
68. HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement, Mostafa Fouad, Executive Director
69. Independent Television News, Rachel Corp, Chief Executive (UK)
70. Inkyfada, Malek Khadhraoui, Director of publication (Tunisia)
71. International News Safety Institute (INSI), Elena Cosentino, Director (UK)
72. International Press Institute (IPI), Scott Griffen, Executive Director
73. IWACU, Abbas Mbazumutima, Editor in Chief (Burundi)
74. Klix.ba, Semir Hambo, Editor in Chief (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
75. L’Alternative, Ferdinand Ayité, Publishing Director (Togo)
76. L’Événement, Moussa Aksar, Publishing Director (Niger)
77. La Voix de Djibouti, Mahamoud Djama, Publishing Director (Djibouti)
78. Le Jour, Haman Mana, Publication Director, (Cameroun)
79. Le Monde, Jérôme Fenoglio, Director (France)
80. Le Reporter, Aimé Kobo Nabaloum, Publishing Director (Burkina Faso)
81. Le Temps, Madeleine von Holzen, Editor-in-Chief ((Switzerland)
82. Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) (Lebanon)
83. Luat Khoa, Trinh Huu Long, Editor-in-Chief (Vietnam)
84. Mada Masr, Lina Atallah, CEO (Egypt)
85. Mail & Guardian, Luke Feltham, Acting Editor-in-Chief (South Africa)
86. Malaysiakini, RK Anand, Executive Editor (Malaysia)
87. Mekong Review, Kirsten Han, Managing Editor (Singapore)
88. MediaTown, Ashraf Mashrawi, Director (Palestine)
89. MENA Rights Group (Switzerland)
90. Mizzima Media, Soe Myint, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief (Myanmar)
91. Mullithivu Press Club – Kanapathipillai Kumanan, Photojournalist and Convener (Sri Lanka)
92. Muwatin Media Network, Mohammed Al-Fazari, CEO & Editor in Chief (UK)
93. Monte Carlo Doualiya (MCD), Souad Al-Tayeb, Director (France)
94. National Public Radio (NPR) Edith Chapin, SVP & Editor in Chief (USA)
95. New Bloom Magazine, Brian Hioe, Founding Editor (Taïwan)
96. Nord Sud Quotidien, Raoul Hounsounou, Publishing Director (Benin)
97. OC Media, Mariam Nikuradze, Co-founder and Co-director (Georgia)
98. Organización Editorial Mexicana, Martha C. Ramos Sosa, Directora General Editorial (México)
99. People Daily, Emeka Mayaka Gekara, Managing Editor (Kenya)
100. Photon Media, Shirley Ka Lai Leung, CEO (Hong Kong)
101. Plan V, Juan Carlos Calderón, Director (Equador)
102. Prachatai, Mutita Chuachang, Executive Editor (Thailand)
103. Premium Times, Musikilu Mojeed, Editor-in-Chief/Chief Operating Officer (Nigeria)
104. Pressafrik, Ibrahima Lissa Faye, Publishing Director (Senegal)
105. Prospect Magazine, Alan Rusbridger, Editor (UK)
106. Pulitzer Center, Marina Walker Guevara, Executive Editor (USA)
107. Rádio Ecclesia, Gaudêncio Yakuleingue, Directeur (Angola)
108. Radio Universidad de Chile, Patricio López, Director, (Chile)
109. Radio France Internationale (RFI), Jean-Marc Four, Director (France)
110. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Thibaut Bruttin, Director General
111. Rory Peck Trust, Jon Williams, Executive Director (UK)
112. SMEX (Lebanon)
113. SMN24MEDIA, Kamal Siriwardana, Director News (Sri Lanka)
114. Society of Professional Journalists, Caroline Hendrie, Executive Director (USA)
115. Stabroek News, Anand Persaud, Director (Guyana)
116. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, SCM (Syria)
117. Taz – die tageszeitung, Barbara Junge, Editor in Chief (Germany)
118. Tempo Digital, Wahyu Dhyatmika, Chief Executive Officer (Indonesia)
119. The Globe and Mail & President, World Editors Forum – (WAN-IFRA), David Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief, (Canada)
120. The Independent, Geordie Greig, Editor-in-Chief (UK)
121. The Intercept Brasil, Andrew Fishman, President & Co-Founder (Brazil)
122. The Legal Agenda (Lebanon)
123. The Magnet, Larry Moonze, Editor (Zambia)
124. The Nairobi Law Monthly, Mbugua Ng’ang’a, Editor-in-Chief (Kenya)
125. The New Arab, Hussam Kanafani, Director of Media Sector
126. The Point, Pap Saine, Publishing Director, (Gambia)
127. The Reckoning Project, Janine di Giovanni, CEO
128. The Shift, Caroline Muscat, Founder (Malta)
129. The Wire, Seema Chishti, Editor (India)
130. The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), Vincent Peyrègne, CEO, Andrew Heslop, Executive Director Press Freedom,
131. TV Slovenia, Ksenija Horvat, Director (Slovenia)
132. Twala.info, Lyas Hallas, Publication Director (Algeria)
133. Unnu.news, Lkhagvatseren Batbayar, Editor-in-Chief (Mongolia)
134. Vikalpa – Sampath Samarakoon, Editor (Sri Lanka)
135. Wattan Media Network, Muamar Orabi, Director General (Palestine)
136. Woz – die Wochenzeitung, Florian Keller, Daniela Janser, Kaspar Surber, Editorial Board (Switzerland)