Israel is still banning foreign media from entering Gaza

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October, so why is the IDF still preventing foreign journalists from entering Gaza? CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward joined Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to discuss her reporting from conflict zones this year and said that a major challenge has been covering the realities in the Palestinian territory. Ward and other foreign media work closely with Palestinian journalists, but she says that nothing compares to “having your own two feet on the ground” and being able to verify stories independently.

While journalists have been allowed to go into the IDF-controlled “yellow zone,” which covers part of Gaza, they must be embedded with the IDF and are prevented from talking to Palestinians. IDF officials say that ongoing security challenges mean that allowing foreign press in on their own is too much of a risk. But fighting and deadly strikes are much less frequent after the ceasefire was put in place, reducing security risks. So why are members of the media still being prevented from independent reporting on the ground firsthand?

“By not allowing journalists in, you are lending credence to the idea that this whole thing has never been about security,” says Ward, “It has been about trying to hide away from the eyes of the world the devastations and horrors that have been taking place.”