German news media demand access to war-torn Gaza

German news media outlets on Tuesday called on Israel to grant them access to war-torn Gaza, charging that the “almost complete exclusion of international media… is unprecedented in recent history”.

“After almost a year of war, we call on the Israeli government: allow us to enter the Gaza Strip,” a group of newspapers, agencies and broadcasters wrote in an open letter.

They also urged Egypt to permit them entry to the widely devastated Palestinian territory via the Rafah border crossing in the south of the Gaza Strip.

The media organisations wrote that “anyone who makes independent reporting on this war impossible is damaging their own credibility.

“Anyone who prohibits us from working in the Gaza Strip is creating the conditions for human rights to be violated.”

The open letter was addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and had been delivered on Monday, they said.

Signatories included editors and reporters from Der Spiegel, Die Welt, public broadcasters ARD and ZDF and the German Journalists Association.

They said they have decades of experience in conflict reporting and wrote: “We know the risk. We are prepared to take it. Grant us access to the Gaza Strip. Let us work, in the interest of everyone.”

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,226 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry.