Abu Dhabi, SANA- More than 100 journalists from various global media outlets have signed a petition demanding “immediate and unsupervised foreign press access to the Gaza Strip to independently cover Israel’s genocidal war.

Sky News Arabia reported that the petition launched within the “freedom to report” initiative which was started by award-winning photographer Andre Liohn, was signed by leading journalists working for global news organizations and stressed that the free media access to Gaza is an urgent necessity.

Signatories include Sky News’ special correspondent Alex Crawford, broadcaster Mehdi Hasan, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward, as well as iconic war photographer Don McCullin.

The petition stated: “Unrestricted, independent access for foreign journalists is urgently needed, not only to document the unfolding atrocities but to ensure that the truth of this war is not dictated by those who control the weapons and the narrative”.

“Gaza is the most urgent case, but it reflects a larger, dangerous trend of silencing journalists and curbing press freedoms. Defending access in Gaza is defending press freedom everywhere” the petition added.

In addition to calling for immediate access, the Freedom to Report petition, demanded that all parties respect journalists’ protected status under international law and calls on governments and press freedom bodies to take action.

Since the start of the war of extermination on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, Israeli occupation has prevented the entry of the international press into a crime aimed at obliterating the features of genocide and systematic starvation to which the Palestinian people are exposed in the Gaza Strip.

The war of extermination left more than 210,000 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced and a famine that claimed the lives of many, including dozens of children.

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