The Supreme Court has canceled the scheduled hearing on the Foreign Press Association's petition, which demands free entry of journalists to the Gaza Strip.

The hearing was set for April 7, but yesterday (March 30) it was canceled due to "constraints in the court's calendar." This comes after significant delay: about half a year after the urgent petition was filed and a year and a half since journalists were blocked from entering Gaza.

Since the war began in October 2023, Israel has prohibited Israeli and foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip and independently reporting on the events in the area. The Foreign Press Association (FPA) petitioned in September demanding that the state lift 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 then Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Southern Command Chief Yaron Finkelman, and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Major General Rassan 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 the events in Gaza and to preserve the public's right to know."

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 Sohlberg, despite the persistent objection of the petitioners who argued from the beginning that an urgent hearing should be held due to the severe harm to press freedom.

Following the sixth extension request, it was determined that the state should submit its preliminary response by February 14. This was also the first time Justice Sohlberg set a limit to the state's time delays. "Until February 14, 2025, and no further," wrote Justice Sohlberg. However, on February 14, the state did not submit its preliminary response. Instead, it requested an additional ten-day extension.

The FPA requested in response to set an urgent hearing for the petition and to impose expenses on the state for requesting a postponement in direct contradiction to the court's decision. Justice Sohlberg ruled that "the petition will be transferred for a hearing before a panel of three justices as soon as possible," without imposing expenses on the state.

More than a month ago, the date was set for April 7, and also the senior panel that would make the decision: Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit, Deputy President Justice Sohlberg, and Justice Daphne Barak-Erez. Today, as mentioned, the hearing was canceled.

According to the Supreme Court calendar, on April 7, the panel assigned to the FPA petition will hear two other petitions, one concerning the appointment of Itamar Ben-Gvir as Minister of National Security.

Recently, the hearing planned in the Supreme Court on the petition against the Law for Preventing Harm by a Foreign Broadcasting Body to State Security was also canceled, to allow for a hearing on petitions against the dismissal of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head.