[link removed]


** The Gaza War: The Lament of the Foreign Journalists and Why Hamas Suddenly Wants Them There ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

by Bassam Tawil • December 18, 2025 at 5:00 am
* Since 2007, Hamas had been imposing restrictions on foreign journalists. In 2011, the BBC reported that foreign journalists "must now apply [to Hamas] five days in advance in order to work" in the Gaza Strip.
* According to the report, Hamas asked some foreign journalists to sign forms saying that if they published any items critical of the terror group, then local Palestinian journalists they worked with would be held responsible.
* "The Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza are arresting, abusing, and criminally charging journalists and activists who express peaceful criticism of the authorities. The crackdown directly violates obligations that Palestine recently assumed in ratifying international treaties protecting free speech." — Human Rights Watch, August 29, 2016.
* The journalists who did visit were not able to see how Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups were transforming the beautiful Gaza Strip into one of the largest bases for Jihad and terrorism in the Middle East.
* Even if they had seen such activities, they would not have filed reports about them, thanks to Hamas's restrictions and threats.
* The foreign journalists who are presently crying that they want to enter the Gaza Strip will face exactly the same threats, restrictions, and harassment by Hamas. They will be permitted to write only stories that depict the Palestinians as victims of Israel, not of the terrorist group Hamas. They will probably comply, telling themselves that lying-by-omission will at least grant them "access."
* Journalists who allow themselves to be intimidated by Hamas or any other party will never be able to report with any credibility.

Hamas now wants foreign journalists to come to the Gaza Strip. The terror group needs the journalists to spread its anti-Israel propaganda. Most of the foreign journalists now complaining that Israel is not allowing them into Gaza did not bother to report about nearly 20 years of Hamas crackdowns on their colleagues and human rights activists. Pictured: The late Anas Al-Sharif (R), who commanded a Hamas rocket-launch squad in Gaza while employed as a "journalist" by Qatar's Al-Jazeera TV news network, smiles for a selfie with senior Hamas officials, including the late Hamas leader Yahiya Sinwar (2nd from left). Photo by Anas al-Sharif.

Foreign journalists in Israel are upset. Israel has prevented them from entering the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, which began with the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. A spokesman for the Foreign Press Association in Israel recently urged authorities to "lift restrictions without delay, allowing all journalists to work securely and without fear or hesitation" in the Gaza Strip.

Before the war, the journalists now complaining that Israel is not allowing them to enter Gaza were able to visit there anytime they liked.

Mostly, however, the foreign journalists chose not to go there. Perhaps they did not think they could come back with an "interesting story," meaning one that could criticize Israel. Reminder: Israel fully withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

Continue Reading Article ([link removed])

============================================================
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** RSS ([link removed])
** Donate ([link removed])
Copyright © Gatestone Institute, All rights reserved.

You are subscribed to this list as [email protected]

You can change how you receive these emails:
** Update your subscription preferences ([link removed])
or ** Unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])

** Gatestone Institute ([link removed])

14 East 60 St., Suite 705, New York, NY 10022