Foreign Press Association accuses Israel of ‘stalling’ on petition to let reporters into Gaza

The High Court has again pushed off a decision whether to allow free media access to the Gaza Strip, and again approved the government’s request for more time to submit a response to a petition demanding independent press entry to the war-torn territory.

The petition, filed by the Foreign Press Association last year, has met perpetual hurdles since it was filed 14 months ago. The FPA represents foreign journalists in Israel, who have not been allowed to report from Gaza unless they enter as embedded reporters with IDF forces.

The latest postponement, handed down yesterday by the Supreme Court, gives Israel until December 4 to respond to the organization’s request for access to the war-torn enclave. It follows a previous postponement approved by the court in late October.

Responding to the recent decision, the FPA accuses the government of using “stalling tactics” to prevent journalists’ entry and says the repeated postponements have “made a mockery of the legal process.”

“The FPA is dismayed to learn that the Israeli Supreme Court has once again granted an extension to the Israeli government to respond to our petition for free and independent access to Gaza,” the group says in a statement. “The Israeli government has repeatedly made it clear that it has no interest in opening Gaza and no plan for doing so.”

An initial petition submitted by the FPA shortly after the start of the war in Gaza was rejected on security grounds, prompting the organization to file another petition in September 2024. The hearing date for the second petition was stalled for 10 months before it took place last month.

At the hearing last month, the lawyer representing the government requested and was granted another month to provide the state’s updated position, in light of the recently-signed ceasefire agreement.

Now, a month later, the state has been granted its request for an extension.

“We truly hope that this will be the final such delay and that the court and Israeli government will allow the international media to fulfill its mission of reporting the news and informing the world about the situation in Gaza,” the FPA adds.