Open letter from media and press freedom organizations on Gaza access

Over one hundred press freedom advocacy groups and international newsrooms have joined Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in issuing a public appeal demanding that foreign journalists be granted immediate, independent and unrestricted access to the Gaza Strip. The organisations are also calling for the full protection of Palestinian journalists, nearly 200 of whom have been killed by the Israeli army over the past 20 months.

For more than 20 months, Israeli authorities have barred foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip. During the same period, the Israeli army killed nearly 200 Palestinian journalists in the blockaded territory, including at least 45 slain for their work. Palestinian journalists who continue reporting — the only witnesses on the ground — are facing unbearable conditions, including forced displacement, famine, and constant threats to their lives. This collective appeal, launched by RSF and CPJ, brings together prominent news outlets from every continent demanding the right to send correspondents into Gaza to report alongside Palestinian journalists.

“The media blockade imposed on Gaza, combined with the massacre of nearly 200 journalists by the Israeli army, is enabling the total destruction and erasure of the blockaded territory. Israeli authorities are banning foreign journalists from entering and ruthlessly asserting their control over information. This is a methodical attempt to silence the facts, suppress the truth, and isolate the Palestinian press and population. We call on governments, international institutions and heads of state to end their complicit silence, enforce the immediate opening of Gaza to foreign media, and uphold a principle that is frequently trampled: under international humanitarian law, killing a journalist is a war crime. This principle has been violated far too often and must now be enforced.

Thibaut Bruttin
RSF Director General

The media blockade on Gaza persists despite repeated calls from RSF to guarantee foreign journalists independent access to the Strip, and legal actions such as the Foreign Press Association’s (FPA) petition to the Israeli Supreme Court. Palestinian journalists, meanwhile, are trapped, displaced, starved, defamed and targeted due to their work. Those who have survived this unprecedented massacre of journalists now find themselves without shelter, equipment, medical care or even food, according to a CPJ report. They face the risk of being killed at any moment.

To end the enduring impunity that allows these crimes to continue, RSF has repeatedly referred cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC), urging it to investigate alleged war crimes committed against journalists in Gaza by the Israeli army. RSF also provides aid to Palestinian journalists on the ground — particularly in Gaza — through partnerships with local organisations such as ARIJ (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism). This partnership provides Palestinian journalists with psychological and professional support, ensuring the continued publication of high-quality reporting despite the blockade and the risks. Through this cooperation, RSF reaffirms its commitment to defending independent, rigorous journalism — even under the most extreme conditions.

The appeal was 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) 137. Bianet, Murat İnceoglu, Editor in Chief (Turkey)
137. Bianet, Murat İnceoglu, Editor in Chief (Turkey)