ITV political editor Robert Peston and The News Agents hosts Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel are among a group of Jewish UK journalists who have issued a renewed call for Israel and Egypt to allow foreign media into Gaza.
The new open letter, shared exclusively with Press Gazette, said the ban on access to Gaza that has continued since the current conflict began on 7 October 2023 is “an unacceptable restriction on our professional responsibility to inform readers, viewers and listeners accurately and impartially”.
Palestinians in Gaza are suffering from an 11-week aid blockade while UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy this week called Israel’s current military escalation a “dark new phase in this conflict”.
Because foreign media organisations are unable to access Gaza, the world relies on Palestinian journalists to report on what is happening.
But the latest estimate from the International Federation of Journalists is that at least 164 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023. The IFJ itself “demands the opening of the enclave to foreign journalists”.
The open letter states: “We note that local media have done an extraordinary job reporting on events while themselves being displaced, hungry and at constant risk, but they should not carry this burden alone.”
Scroll down or click here to read the letter in full
They note that although Israel has cited safety concerns as a reason for the ban, foreign correspondents are experienced at assessing conflict risks for themselves and that it is their “calling” to report from such places.
The 17 signatories also include Sunday Times Whitehall editor and British Journalism Awards Journalist of the Year 2023 Gabriel Pogrund, The Sun political correspondent Noa Hoffman, LBC presenter Ben Kentish, Daily Mail City editor Alex Brummer and Prospect magazine senior editor Alona Ferber.
The letter has been co-ordinated by Peston and Charles Keidan, executive editor of Alliance magazine which covers philanthropy.
Peston, who is also an ambassador for the newspaper Jewish News, said: “It is vitally important that the international media be able to enter Gaza, to provide trustworthy impartial reports on globally significant events, and ease the burden on local reporters.
“The fact the signatories are Jewish does not give us more authority to call for this than other journalists would have, and we obviously don’t speak for the Jewish community.
“But our hope is that our voices may be heard by the Israeli and Egyptian governments.”
Repeated calls were made last year for international media to be allowed access into Gaza but no action was ever taken.
In February 2024 more than 55 foreign correspondents from the BBC, Sky, Channel 4, ITV, CBS, CNN, NBC and ABC called for “free and unfettered access” to bolster the efforts of local journalists.
This was swiftly followed by an open letter co-ordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists was published with signatures from leaders at more than 30 news organisations saying they stood united with journalists reporting from Gaza and called for anyone targeting them to be held accountable.
Some journalists have been able to enter Gaza embedded with Israeli Defense Forces soldiers but this means they are unable to move around unsupervised and have to submit their reporting for review before publication. A rare exception is CNN’s Clarissa Ward who entered Gaza on a brief trip with UAE medical volunteers in December 2023.
Journalists’ letter calling for access into Gaza – in full:
We write to request of Israel and Egypt that international media should be allowed to report from inside Gaza with immediate effect.
Over the last 19 months, we’ve been perturbed that Israel and Egypt have rejected requests from international media to be allowed normal journalistic access to Gaza.
With the breakdown of the most recent ceasefire, restrictions on aid, and troops on the ground, it is critical that reporters are able to fulfil their important responsibility to report accurately, faithfully and independently, and to exercise the normal editorial judgements according to the highest ethical standards and journalistic practices. We note that local media have done an extraordinary job reporting on events while themselves being displaced, hungry and at constant risk, but they should not carry this burden alone.
As journalists and editors, who are also Jews, we see Israel’s and Egypt’s refusal to allow such access as unjustified and unjustifiable, and as an unacceptable restriction on our professional responsibility to inform readers, viewers and listeners accurately and impartially.
Journalists are the first line of accountability. Refusal of access is therefore a denial of the voices of all in Gaza. We owe it to the victims of this conflict – and all future conflicts – that journalists can report on what’s happening and tell the story to the fullest extent possible. That is not possible without being on the ground.
We support the Foreign Press Association and the Committee to Protect Journalists in calling on Israel and Egypt to allow media unfettered access to Gaza. This would mean permitting credentialed, trusted and respected international journalists to work inside Gaza with immediate effect. We ask our elected representatives, humanitarian colleagues and our own community to demand such access.
It is time for Israel and Egypt to stop using the pretext of battlefield security to prevent the world’s leading war reporters and foreign correspondents to be in situ to cover events.
To suggest that the safety of journalists cannot be guaranteed is not a reason to deny access. International journalists are aware of the risks. These risks are for them to manage as they do all too frequently in conflict zones around the world. That is their job and that is their calling: to report from some of the most troubled places in the hope that humanity will not avert its eyes.
The longer that international journalists are denied direct in-person contact, the harder it will be to write the first draft of this baleful history, to shine a light on the impact and learn lessons.
We therefore respectfully ask that the Jewish state and the Egyptian government end their prohibition on international journalists entering Gaza. Journalists must be allowed to do their jobs, independently, and without fear or favour.
Signed by:
Charles Keidan, Executive editor, Alliance magazine
Robert Peston, ITV political editor and ambassador, Jewish News
Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO and editor, Index on Censorship
Emily Maitlis, The News Agents
Jon Sopel, The News Agents
Alona Ferber, Senior editor, Prospect Magazine
Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall editor, Sunday Times
David Aaronovitch
Jo-Ann Mort, Freelance journalist
Dimi Reider, Co-founder, +972 Magazine
Haggai Matar, Co-founder, +972 Magazine
Alex Brummer, City editor, Daily Mail
Amie Ferris-Rotman, Global news editor, New Lines Magazine
Sabrina Miller, reporter, Daily Mail
Gilead Amit, Deputy science editor, The Economist
Noa Hoffman, Political correspondent, The Sun
Ben Kentish, Presenter, LBC
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