Democrats push Biden to demand media access to Gaza amid Israeli aid block

Israel's war and its regional spillover have brought 'deadliest period for journalists'

Palestinians wait for aid lorries to cross into the central Gaza Strip in May. AP

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza

More than 60 Democratic legislators on Monday sent a letter to US President Joe Biden demanding “unimpeded media access” to Gaza amid growing warnings that Israel is intentionally starving Palestinians there.

Led by Jim McGovern, the members of the House of Representatives said that Israel's restrictions on foreign media “undermine the very foundation of press freedom and democratic accountability”.

“We urge the administration to take immediate action to advocate for unrestricted, independent media access to Gaza," their letter reads. "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 letter has 64 congressional signatories – all members of Mr Biden's Democratic Party – and almost all are among the small group of largely pro-Israel US legislators to have endorsed a ceasefire in Gaza.

Only Palestinian reporters who were already inside the besieged enclave have been able to report on the devastating year of war in Gaza, which has taken an “unprecedented toll” on them, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The war in Gaza and its regional spillover have represented the deadliest period for journalists since the organisation began gathering data in 1992, with the killing of at least 128 journalists and media workers in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon since October 7, 2023.

In July, more than 60 organisations led by the Committee to Protect Journalists signed an open letter urging Israel to give journalists independent access to Gaza.

The Foreign Press Association has also raised concerns about the crackdown on media access to Gaza during Israel's continuing military campaign there, saying “it raises questions about what Israel doesn’t want international journalists to see”.

The letter also came as progressive Senator Chris Van Hollen hinted in a statement that he believes Washington is complicit in the starving of Gaza's vulnerable population, calling conditions there “unacceptable”.

“Since [Mr Biden's] last call with Netanyahu, we've seen only a trickle of food to [northern] Gaza, a spike in civilian deaths, an Israeli ban on some American doctors treating wounded and no new fuel for hospital generators,” Mr Van Hollen posted on X. “Silence and inaction equals complicity.”

This month, the UN warned that Israel had for weeks blocked nearly all food aid to the about 400,000 Palestinians stranded in northern Gaza.

The UN Palestinian relief agency warned that “civilians are given no choice but to either leave or starve” in the enclave's north, UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini tweeted.

Providing support to foreign governments blocking humanitarian aid is illegal under US law, but the Biden administration has insisted on increasing support for Israel.

The Biden administration recently warned that if Israel does not address the “deteriorating humanitarian situation” in Gaza within 30 days, Washington could begin to restrict military aid. In the same week, however, the Pentagon announced it was sending a Thaad anti-missile system and “associated personnel” to operate it to Israel.