Foreign Reporters Fight Israeli Bar on Entering Gaza

New York Times

By ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: November 18, 2008

JERUSALEM — An association representing international news organizations is campaigning for an end to an unusual Israeli ban on foreign reporters’ entering to Gaza that has lasted for almost two weeks.

The local Foreign Press Association, which represents reporters working for foreign news companies in Israel and the Palestinian territories, asked presidents of major news organizations on Tuesday to sign a letter to the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, protesting the ban. The association said it was also enlisting the help of a number of foreign governments and was consulting with lawyers regarding possible court proceedings.

Israel has almost entirely sealed the crossing points along its border with Gaza since a five-month cease-fire with Hamas, which controls the strip, began to unravel on Nov. 4. At least 15 Palestinian militants have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces since, and about 140 rockets and mortar shells have been fired from Gaza into southern Israel, according to the Israeli military.

Although Israel has often closed the border crossings and halted deliveries of goods and fuel into Gaza in response to rocket fire, foreign journalists have usually been allowed to cross in and out to report.

This time, according to Shlomo Dror, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Ministry, all movement in and out of Gaza is being halted, except for essential humanitarian cases.

“The decision is not directed against journalists,” Mr. Dror said. “The situation in Gaza is clear — there is daily firing, we have information about possible attacks on the crossings, and we are limiting our activity there as much as possible.”

With that, Mr. Dror added that he was not “shedding tears” over the journalists’ frustration, saying that Israel in any case considered much of their previous coverage from Gaza unfair.

Last week, 20 European consuls who were scheduled to meet with business leaders and human rights activists in Gaza were denied entry, on grounds that their mission was not strictly humanitarian.

On Monday Israel allowed 33 trucks of basic food and medical supplies in, as international aid organizations warned that their operations in Gaza were being jeopardized. Israel has also allowed one limited delivery of fuel, and Mr. Dror said that a number of Gazans in need of medical treatment had been allowed to leave.

He denied that there was any food or fuel crisis in Gaza, and said that the crossings would reopen after the Palestinians stopped their fire.

The truce broke down after an Israeli force entered Gaza to destroy a tunnel the military feared Hamas might use to abduct soldiers in a cross-border raid. The Islamic group took control of Gaza in 2007.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces carried out what the military described as a “routine operation” along the border fence in southern Gaza, searching for explosives, and three rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel.