United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said this Monday that Gaza is experiencing an information war that is “exacerbating the trauma of war” and warned that denying international journalists entry into the enclave allows “disinformation to flourish.”
“Information warfare has intensified the trauma of the Gaza war by hiding facts and shifting blame. The ban on international journalists entering Gaza allows disinformation and false narratives to flourish,” a Portuguese diplomat said via social media site X.
It is difficult to get first-hand information about what is happening in the Gaza Strip because Israel has not allowed the international press to enter the Palestinian enclave since the war began six months ago.
Last week, the Israeli government also banned Al Jazeera, a media outlet that has a large presence and several journalists in the Gaza Strip, from broadcasting in the country.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel, which represents journalists covering the country and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, today asked the Israeli government to grant independent access to the Gaza Strip.
“Long-term restrictions on independent press access to the war zone are unprecedented in Israel. This raises questions about what Israel does not want foreign journalists to see,” the group said in a statement, emphasizing that “six months [sem acesso] It’s too long.”
The AEI clarified that Israeli leaders have repeatedly rejected their requests to enter the occupied territory, citing security and logistics reasons.
“Meanwhile, Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip have faced unprecedented suffering and threats while bravely reporting stories,” the IEA said.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, during these six months of the Israeli offensive in the Palestinian enclave, 95 journalists have already been killed, almost all Palestinians.
The ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip was sparked by an attack on Israeli soil by the Islamist group Hamas on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and captured two hundred hostages, according to authorities.
Since then, Israel has launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 33,000 people, according to Hamas, which has ruled the small Palestinian enclave since 2007.