The Censorship of Journalists in Gaza

During the conflict between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, journalists have faced censorship and possible military targeting in their attempts to provided coverage of the conflict. It makes it difficult to have independent reporting that can provide a critical check on wartime propaganda from either the Netanyahu government or Hamas.

Some international news organizations have been permitted to enter Gaza if they accompany the IDF. These journalists are not permitted to move unaccompanied in Gaza and have to submit all materials and footage to the Israeli military for review before publication (https://www.vox.com/23972456/journalists-killed-gaza-israel-press-freed…). This often leads to a biased view of the Gaza conflict favorable to Israel.

In addition, many Palestinian journalists have been killed trying to cover the conflict from within Gaza. The Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 70 Palestinian reporters, as well as four Israeli and three Lebanese reporters, have been killed (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/al-jazeera-accuses-israel-of-deliber…). In addition, the Israeli government has arrested Palestinian journalists in the West Bank due to their coverage and their social media posts about the conflict.

A final deterrent to journalists trying to give an independent and critical coverage of Gaza is Hamas. According to Human Rights Watch (https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/10/23/two-authorities-one-way-zero-diss…) and The Times of Israel (https://www.timesofisrael.com/whats-life-like-under-hamas-whispered-in-…), Hamas regularly harasses and abuses any Gazan who is critical of Hamas.

The independent journalists who provide independent coverage of the Gaza conflict should be commended for their courage and ingenuity in overcoming the obstacles of both the Netanyahu government and Hamas. Several of these journalists have seen family members and friends killed, yet they continue to do their work.
They provide the nuanced coverage of the conflict that is a necessary counterbalance to the wartime propaganda of both the Netanyahu government and Hamas.