Over 60 House Democrats urge Biden to ensure foreign media access to Gaza

With Israel preventing foreign media access to Gaza and its genocidal war being reported only by local Palestinian journalists — often at the risk of being killed or maimed by invading Israeli military — calls are growing for US President Joe Biden to pressurise Tel Aviv into allowing foreign journalists to the besieged Palestinian enclave.

On Monday, US Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA) rallied 64 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives, urging the Biden administration to ensure unrestricted access for US and international journalists in Gaza.

"The restrictions on media reporting have created significant challenges in obtaining accurate, verifiable information from Gaza, leading to increased scepticism about the limited reports that do emerge," the members wrote in a powerful letter.

"At a time when reliable information is more critical than ever, the restrictions on foreign reporting undermine the very foundation of press freedom and democratic accountability," they added.

House of Representatives is a powerful legislative branch of the US government with the power to provide oversight of the executive branch.

The call for action follows a similar plea from over 70 media and civil society organisations that signed an open letter in July, urging Israel to grant journalists access to Gaza. Israel rejected those calls.

Facing extraordinary dangers

Foreign media remains largely barred from the blockaded area, with only a handful of controlled trips allowed by the Israeli military. This effectively places the burden of reporting on local journalists, who are facing extraordinary dangers in their pursuit of truth.

The stakes are high. Since Israel began its war on Gaza, nearly 180 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli military, with those who still remain operating under dire conditions.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has confirmed that Israeli forces deliberately targeted and killed at least five journalists — Issam Abdallah, Hamza Al Dahdouh, Mustafa Thuraya, Ismail Al Ghoul, and Rami Al Refee — classifying these acts as murders.

According to the International Federation of Journalists, the mortality rate for media workers in Gaza exceeds 10 percent. Alarmingly, 75 percent of all reporters killed worldwide in 2023 met their fate between October 7, 2023 and the year's end.

In December 2023, just two months into the war, the CPJ declared Gaza the "most dangerous ever" war zone for reporters.

These harrowing statistics highlight the necessity of allowing independent journalists to operate freely and document the realities on the ground.

The signatories of the letter that is addressed to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken include Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Maxine Waters, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Barbara Lee among others.

"We urge the administration to take immediate action to advocate for unrestricted, independent media access to Gaza," the letter highlighted.

"A free press is essential to ensuring that the world can bear witness to the realities on the ground and hold all parties accountable," the lawmakers concluded.

US bankrolling war

US military assistance to Israel has totalled more than $200 billion since the creation of the country on the Palestinian lands.

Washington doles out $3.8 billion in annual military funding to its longtime ally Israel, and the Biden administration has so far resisted calls to condition any arms transfers even though senior US officials have criticised Israel over the high civilian death toll in Gaza, where Tel Aviv has killed more than 42,500 Palestinians and wounded nearly 100,000 others.

Some 10,000 Palestinians are feared to be buried under the rubble of their bombed homes. Another 10,000 have been abducted by Israel and dumped in Israeli torture chambers.

Experts and some studies say this is just the tip of the iceberg and the actual Palestinian death toll could be around 200,000.

Israel and its leaders are accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice.