Seven months after an urgent petition was filed demanding free entry of journalists to the Gaza Strip, a first hearing will be held on the matter in the Supreme Court.

Since the war began in October 2023, the State of Israel has prohibited Israeli and foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip and independently reporting on what is happening in the area. The Foreign Press Association (FPA) petitioned in September demanding that the state cancel the ban. This was the second petition, after a previous one from the first months of the war was rejected due to security considerations.

The petition, filed through attorneys Gilead Sher and Ran Greenwald, against Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Southern Command Chief Major General Yaron Finkelman, and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Major General Ghassan Alian, argued that "there is paramount importance, especially in areas of increasing tension, for independent and objective coverage conducted openly and transparently, in a reliable and complete manner, in real-time and from first-hand sources, about what is happening in the Gaza Strip and to preserve the public's right to know."

The petition further argued that "there is no need to explain the implications of imposing a ban on independent coverage by foreign journalists, from the perspective of the global public and how things appear externally, when journalists are allowed to move around only with the accompaniment and guidance of Israeli security forces, and even that in arbitrary moderation. It is absolutely clear that the outcome of such a blanket ban is that Israel has something to hide, supposedly, and this leads to increased harsh criticism against Israel."

The original deadline for the state's preliminary response to the petition was October 10, 2024, but since then the state has requested and received six different extensions from Supreme Court Justice Noam Solberg, despite the persistent objection of the petitioners who argued from the outset that an urgent hearing should be held on the petition, given the severe harm to press freedom.

Following the sixth extension request, it was determined that the state must submit its preliminary response by February 14. This was also the first time that Justice Solberg set a limit to the state's time-stretching. "Until February 14, 2025, and no more," wrote Justice Solberg. However, even on February 14, the state did not submit its preliminary response. Instead, it requested an additional extension of ten days.

The FPA requested in response to set an urgent hearing on the petition and to impose expenses on the state for requesting a postponement in complete contradiction to the court's decision.

Justice Solberg decided that "the petition will be transferred for discussion before a panel of three as soon as possible," but did not impose expenses on the state.

Yesterday, a date for the hearing was set, April 7, 2025. The panel appointed to hear the petition includes Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit, Deputy President Justice Solberg, and Justice Daphne Barak-Erez.