Israeli High Court sets final deadline for state to respond to petition for press access to Gaza
Israel’s High Court has given the state until January 4 to respond to a petition filed by the Foreign Press Association seeking free media access to Gaza, saying this will be the final deadline after several delays.
“If the respondents [Israeli authorities] do not inform us of their position by that date, a decision on the request for a conditional order will be made on the basis of the material in the case file,” the court said, adding it would “not be possible” to agree to any more extensions if the state requests.
Since the start of the war in October 2023, Israeli authorities have blocked foreign journalists from independently entering the territory. Instead, they have allowed, on a case-by-case basis, a handful of reporters to accompany Israeli troops into the blockaded Palestinian territory.
This year alone, Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed 29 Palestinian reporters, a higher toll for journalists than in any other country, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Foreign Press Association ‘pleased’ with Israeli High Court petition deadline
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Jerusalem has welcomed the Israeli High Court of Justice’s move to require the Israeli state to respond by January 4 to its petition on media access to Gaza.
“After two years of the state’s delay tactics, we are pleased that the court’s patience has finally run out,” said the association, which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
“We renew our call for the state of Israel to immediately grant journalists free and unfettered access to the Gaza Strip,” it added. “And should the government continue to obstruct press freedoms, we hope that the supreme court will recognise and uphold those freedoms.”
Israeli death penalty bill violates international law: Palestinian analysts
In early November, the Israeli parliament passed the first reading of a bill that would introduce the death penalty for those convicted of killing Israelis if they had “racist” motives or were doing it “with the aim of harming Israel”. The bill clearly targets Palestinians, even as Israelis carry out deadly attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and Israel continues its killing of Palestinians in Gaza.
Alarm is widespread among Palestinian lawyers and activists. They claim that the law fundamentally undermines judicial safeguards, and warn that it seeks to erase the status of Palestinian detainees as protected under international law.
“The Israeli Knesset [parliament], dominated by the far-right, is working to turn killing into official legislation,” said Hassan Breijieh, who is the head of the Bethlehem office of the Wall and Settlements Resistance Commission. “[The proposed law] is an attempt to erase international recognition of the Palestinian fighter … and turn him into a criminal defendant.”
Israeli Ministers Wear Noose Pins to Symbolize Support for Killing Palestinians
