The New Arab has joined over 120 international media organisations in an open letter calling for full access to the Gaza Strip to report on Israel’s war.

The open letter has been coordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent NGO that promotes press freedoms around the world.

Israel bars media workers from entering the besieged coastal enclave and obtaining permits has often been very difficult.

More than 200 journalists have been killed on duty in Gaza in both direct and indirect Israeli attacks since the start of the war in October 2023.

Below is the full open letter:

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 organisations 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), Tim Davie, Director-General, (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

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

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, Noel Curran, Director General

50. Eyewitness Media Group, Patrick Mayoyo, Director Editorial Innovations

51. Financial Times, Roula Khalaf, Editor (USA)

52. Forbidden Stories, Laurent Richard, Founder (France)

53. Foreign Press Association, Deborah Bonetti, Director (London)

54. Foreign Press Association, Tania Kraemer, Chair (Israel)

55. Foundation for Investigative Journalism – FIJ, Fisayo Soyombo, Founder and Editor

(Nigeria)

56. France 24, (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. Hildebrandt en sus trece, César Hildebrandt, Director, (Peru)

67. HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement

68. Independent Television News, Rachel Corp, Chief Executive (UK)

69. Inkyfada, Malek Khadhraoui, Director of publication (Tunisia)

70. International News Safety Institute (INSI), Elena Consentino, Director (UK)

71. International Press Institute (IPI), Scott Griffen, Executive Director

72. IWACU, Abbas Mbazumutima, Editor in Chief (Burundi)

73. Klix.ba, Semir Hambo, Editor in Chief (Bosnia-Herzegovina)

74. L’Alternative, Ferdinand Ayité, Publishing Director (Togo)

75. L’Événement, Moussa Aksar, Publishing Director (Niger)

76. La Voix de Djibouti, Mahamoud Djama, Publishing Director (Djibouti)

77. Le Jour, Haman Mana, Publication Director, (Cameroun)

78. Le Monde, Jérôme Fenoglio, Director (France)

79. Le Reporter, Aimé Kobo Nabaloum, Publishing Director (Burkina Faso)

80. Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) (Lebanon)

81. Luat Khoa, Trinh Huu Long, Editor-in-Chief (Vietnam)

82. Mada Masr, Lina Atallah, CEO (Egypt)

83. Mail & Guardian, Luke Feltham, Acting Editor-in-Chief (South Africa)

84. Malaysiakini, RK Anand, Executive Editor (Malaysia)

85. Mekong Review, Kirsten Han, Managing Editor (Singapore)

86. MENA Rights Group

87. Mizzima Media, Soe Myint, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief (Myanmar)

88. Muwatin Media Network, Mohammed Al-Fazari, CEO & Editor in Chief (UK)

89. National Public Radio (NPR) Edith Chapin, SVP & Editor in Chief (USA)

90. New Bloom Magazine, Brian Hioe, Founding Editor (Taïwan)

91. Nord Sud Quotidien, Raoul Hounsounou, Publishing Director (Benin)

92. OC Media, Mariam Nikuradze, Co-founder and Co-director (Georgia)

93. Organización Editorial Mexicana, Martha C. Ramos Sosa, Directora General Editorial (México)

94. People Daily, Emeka Mayaka Gekara, Managing Editor (Kenya)

95. Photon Media, Shirley Ka Lai Leung, CEO (Hong Kong)

96. Plan V, Juan Carlos Calderón, Director (Equador)

97. Prachatai, Mutita Chuachang, Executive Editor (Thailand)

98. PREMIUM TIMES, Musikilu Mojeed, Editor-in-Chief/Chief Operating Officer

99. Pressafrik, Ibrahima Lissa Faye, Publishing Director (Senegal)

100. Prospect Magazine, Alan Rusbridger, Editor

101. Pulitzer Center, Marina Walker Guevara, Executive Editor

102. Rádio Ecclesia, Gaudêncio Yakuleingue, Directeur (Angola)

103. Radio Universidad de Chile, Patricio López, Director, (Chile)

104. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Thibaut Bruttin, Director General

105. Rory Peck Trust, Jon Williams, Executive Director

106. SMEX (Lebanon)

107. SMN24MEDIA, Kamal Siriwardana, Director News (Sri Lanka)

108. Society of Professional Journalists, Caroline Hendrie, Executive Director (USA)

109. Stabroek News, Anand Persaud, Director (Guyana)

110. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, SCM (Syria)

111. Taz – die tageszeitung, Barbara Junge, Editor in Chief (Germany)

112. Tempo Digital, Wahyu Dhyatmika, Chief Executive Officer (Indonesia)

113. The Globe and Mail & President, World Editors Forum – (WAN-IFRA), David

Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief, (Canada)

114. The Independent, Geordie Greig, Editor-in-Chief (UK)

115. The Intercept Brasil, Andrew Fishman, President & Co-Founder (Brazil)

116. The Legal Agenda (Lebanon)

117. The Magnet, Larry Moonze, Editor (Zambia)

118. The Nairobi Law Monthly, Mbugua Ng'ang'a, Editor-in-Chief (Kenya)

119. The New Arab, Hussam Kanafani, Director of Media Sector

120. The Point, Pap Saine, Publishing Director, (Gambia)

121. The Reckoning Project, Janine di Giovanni, CEO

122. The Shift, Caroline Muscat, Founder (Malta)

123. The Wire, Seema Chishti, Editor (India)

124. The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), Vincent Peyrègne, CEO,

Andrew Heslop, Executive Director Press Freedom,

125. TV Slovenia, Ksenija Horvat, Director (Slovenia)

126. Twala.info, Lyas Hallas, Publication Director

127. Unnu.news, Lkhagvatseren Batbayar, Editor-in-Chief (Mongolia)

128. Wattan Media Network (Palestine)

129. Woz – die Wochenzeitung, Florian Keller, Daniela Janser, Kaspar Surber, Editorial Board (Switzerland)