The BBC and press agencies launch a cinema calling Israel to allow foreign journalists to enter Gaza

The BBC and the three international press agencies have published a short film calling Israel to allow foreign journalists to embark on Gaza.

The film, launched by the company with Agency France-Presse (AFP), the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters, is told by the BBC veteran journalist, David Dimbleby.

He said: “International journalists must now be authorized in Gaza to share the burden with Palestinian journalists there so that we can all bring the facts to the world.”

Foreign journalists were forbidden to enter independently from Gaza since Israel launched its offensive in 2023 after the attacks in Hamas October 7. A small number was taken in the band by Israeli troops under controlled access.

Israeli defense forces (FRI) previously declared that “allowing journalists to present themselves safely” in Gaza, the army “accompanies them in the battlefield”.

The BBC has contacted the Israeli Foreign Affairs and Israeli Defense Forces (FDI) to comment.

Last year, the High Court of Justice of Israel judged that the restrictions at the entrance to Gaza were justified for security reasons.

Deborah Turness, CEO of BBC News, said: “He has been almost two years since October 7 when the world has witnessed Hamas atrocities. Since then, a war has raged in Gaza, but international journalists are not allowed to enter.

“We must now be left in Gaza. To work alongside local journalists, so that we can all bring the facts to the world.”

The film will be presented in New York Wednesday evening during an event organized by the Committee to protect journalists, to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly. He presents images of historical events and atrocities captured by journalists.

They include scenes from D -Day landing during the Second World War, the Vietnam War, the 1984 famine in Ethiopia, the demonstrations of the Tiananmen square in China, the Rwandan genocide, the Syrian refugee crisis and the war in Ukraine.

“In Ukraine, journalists from around the world risk their lives every day to report people’s suffering,” said Dimbleby in the film.

“But with regard to Gaza, the work of reporting falls only to Palestinian journalists, who pay a terrible cost, leaving less testimony.”

This is not the first time that press organizations have called for Israeli authorities to allow journalists to penetrate the territory.

In July, BBC News, AFP, AP and Reuters published a declaration expressing a “desperate concern” for journalists in Gaza who experience disastrous circumstances, including hunger and displacement.

In August, 27 countries, including the United Kingdom, made a statement calling to Israel to allow immediate foreign media to Gaza and to condemn attacks against journalists.

According to the United Nations Human Rights Office, at least 248 Palestinian journalists were killed during Israeli attacks in Gaza.

Israel has repeatedly denied that his forces target journalists.

The Israeli army launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the attack by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 65,419 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas Ministry of Hamas in the territory. The ministry’s figures are cited by the UN and the others as the most reliable source of statistics available on the victims.