JERUSALEM – Israel said Thursday it is lifting restrictions on foreign journalists entering the Gaza Strip, a ban that had drawn strong criticism from news media.
The government said journalists would be free to enter and leave the war-ravaged territory starting Friday — two days before the Israeli Supreme Court was scheduled to rule on a request by the Foreign Press Association to declare the restrictions illegal.
The court hearing will probably not take place if the government lifts the ban.
Israel imposed restrictions on entry to Gaza in early November as a cease-fire with Gaza's Hamas rulers began to fray. It tightened the rules after launching a military offensive Dec. 27 and ignored a Supreme Court order six days later to allow limited access to international reporters. Only when a cease-fire was declared Sunday did Israel begin opening the border to a trickle of journalists.
Though the ban was instituted well before heavy fighting began, the government argued the security situation made it unsafe for journalists to visit. News groups charged that Israel wanted to manage coverage of the fighting and said the restrictions violated press freedom.
Despite the ban, events in Gaza were covered extensively by Gaza-based journalists who work for international media organizations, including The Associated Press.
The Israeli government has long prohibited Israeli journalists from entering Gaza because of fears for their safety, but reporters from other countries had been permitted to enter, even during times of heavy fighting.
During the latest Israeli offensive, small numbers of journalists were allowed to enter Gaza from Israel and only in the company of Israeli troops. The military also closed large sections of southern Israel to reporters.
In the waning days of the assault, some international journalists were permitted into Gaza through its crossing with Egypt. The route had not been used as an entry point for journalists since Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War.
In the Gaza campaign, Israel appeared to be trying to reverse course from an open access policy during its 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Some critics of the policy believed the free access backfired, resulting in the airing of grievances by Israeli soldiers and other reports unfavorable to Israel.
Simon McGregor-Wood, bureau chief for ABC News in Jerusalem and a Foreign Press Association board member, said he was pleased that free movement was being restored in Gaza and expressed hope it would not be revoked again.
"We never accepted the argument that it was about our security. We always thought it was a strategic decision to restrict access to Gaza for whatever benefit they thought it would give them. I think it is pretty clear they didn't want us going in," he said.
"We want free, unfettered access as it was before the new restrictions started creeping in, and we hope that there won't be any bogus restrictions imposed in the future."
Daniel Seaman, director of Israel's Government Press Office, rejected the journalists' charges.
"Israel operated in accordance with the Supreme Court guidelines in a time of war and behaved in accordance with its own interests," he said. "The atmosphere of crisis was created by the journalists and not the state of Israel."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_media
Topic: Israel to open Gaza Strip crossing to journalists (Read 415 times)