Jan 2, 2009

Israel continued to bar foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip on Friday, despite a Supreme Court decision to allow a limited number of reporters to enter the territory.
The ban has been in place since Israel sealed the crossing to all but essential supplies on Nov. 5 in response to increased militant rocket fire on Israel. The ban was sporadically eased last month, but re-imposed after Israel launched an offensive in Gaza on Dec. 27.

Journalists have protested the ban as a grave blow to press freedom. A legal challenge by the Foreign Press Association, which represents international news organizations in Israel and the Palestinian territories, prompted Wednesday's court ruling to allow a limited number of foreign journalists to enter during times when the Erez crossing is open for humanitarian cases.

Israel opened the crossing terminal Friday to allow several hundred Palestinians with foreign passports to leave Gaza, but kept reporters out.

The Foreign Press Association, which launched the legal challenge, expressed its dismay over the ban.

"We call on the Israeli government to immediately honor the will of the court and allow foreign journalists access to Gaza," it said in a statement. "The authorities' position that there was not enough time to coordinate and allow the journalists to enter does not seem reasonable."

A military spokesman said Israel kept the journalists out because authorities at the crossing point were focused on processing the nearly 300 Palestinians exiting Gaza.

"The crossing today was overwhelmed dealing with the emergency evacuation of people," said army spokesman Peter Lerner.

The Erez crossing, which was expanded during renovations in recent years, has a large terminal designed to process thousands of people crossing in each direction daily.

Lerner said journalists might be allowed across on Sunday, when Israel plans to open the crossing for injured Palestinians to enter Israel for medical treatment.