The FPA\u2019s legal team is likely to file a request for the court to reconsider the decision later this week.<\/p>\n
During Monday\u2019s hearing, the justices questioned the state\u2019s ongoing contention that allowing journalists independent access to Gaza would endanger Israeli forces, against the backdrop of the ceasefire.<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/F250113CG60-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tIllustrative: Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg presides over a court hearing, January 13, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
\u201cJournalists want to enter independently. What risk do they pose to IDF forces?\u201d Kabub asked Yonatan Nadav, the attorney representing the state in court.<\/p>\n
And Ronen pointed out that the security situation had changed since the petitions by the FPA were first filed back in 2024, specifically in light of the ceasefire, which came into effect on October 10, 2025. US President Donald Trump launched the ceasefire\u2019s second phase last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can no longer say it\u2019s the same risk. You must explain what else must take place for journalists\u2019 entry to be permitted. It\u2019s not enough to claim security concerns without explaining it,\u201d Ronen said.<\/p>\n
The IDF and the Defense Ministry have applied a blanket ban on independent press access to the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war. It has, however, allowed Israeli journalists, and to a lesser extent foreign journalists, to enter specific areas of Gaza as embedded reporters with IDF forces.<\/p>\n
The state has argued that the entry of journalists into the Strip would pose security risks to IDF soldiers and to the journalists themselves.<\/p>\n
The FPA argues, however, that the blanket ban on independent access to Gaza for journalists \u201ccontravenes the foundational principles of the state as a democratic country, and represents a severe, unreasonable and disproportionate injury to the freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and freedom of employment for journalists and the right to information.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/F250726ALH04-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tPalestinian journalists report on the war and ongoing humanitarian crisis in the central Gaza Strip, July 26, 2025. (Ali Hassan\/ Flash90)<\/p>\n
The FPA\u2019s petition requesting that the court order the government to facilitate independent press access to Gaza during the war with Hamas was originally filed in September 2024.<\/p>\n
The court granted the state nine extensions to file its response, and when a hearing was finally held in October 2025, the state requested another 30-day extension to update the court on its position in the wake of the ceasefire.<\/p>\n
The court then granted several further extensions to the state until it finally submitted its response on January 4.<\/p>\n
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