The United Nation chief has criticized Israel for denying international journalists’ entry into the war-torn Gaza Strip, warning that the decision could add to the trauma of the war.
Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called the barring of the journalists an action which enables “disinformation and false narratives to flourish.”
“Denying international journalists entry into Gaza is allowing disinformation and false narratives to flourish,” Guterres said in a post on X.
An information war has added to the trauma of the war in Gaza – obscuring facts and shifting blame.
Denying international journalists entry into Gaza is allowing disinformation and false narratives to flourish.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) April 8, 2024
He made the remarks a day after the Foreign Press Association, an organization representing journalists working in Gaza, reported that Israel continues to prevent international reporters from entering the war-torn area.
“Israel continues to bar international reporters from entering any part of the Gaza Strip independently,” a statement released by the FPA said on Monday, adding that the decision prompts inquiries into issues that Israel wishes to conceal from the eyes of international journalists.
“The barring of independent press access to a war zone for this long is unprecedented for Israel. It raises questions about what Israel does not want international journalists to see,” the statement read.
It further warned about the conditions of Palestinian journalists inside Gaza, saying they face “unprecedented” threats and dangers while bravely covering the events.
Meanwhile, America’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), expressed support for the FPA on Monday, calling on the Israeli regime to grant the international media “expanded and unfettered access to Gaza.”
“Immediate and unrestricted international media access to devastated areas of Gaza and the West Bank is essential if the world is to fully comprehend the far-right Israeli … genocidal campaign targeting the Palestinian people,” CAIR’s national communications director Ibrahim Hooper said in a statement.
