International news outlets urge Israel to let reporters and aid into Gaza
World news networks are urging Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, as well as on the movement of journalists in and out of the region, while Palestinian reporters in the area struggle to survive amid worsening shortages. Global leaders and aid groups are warning of Gaza’s deepening hunger crisis, which has caused dozens of hunger-related deaths in July 2025, according to Gaza health authorities.
News outlets call for end to restrictions
That’s led news outlets, including The New York Times, to raise concerns about Israel’s ban on international journalists from entering the Gaza Strip without an escort amid war, while local reporters remain trapped there without adequate food to live, let alone work.
“Reporting from any conflict zone is a risky, and brave pursuit that ultimately performs a global public service,” Philip Pan, the International editor of The Times, said in a statement on Sunday, July 27. “Adding the threat of food deprivation and even starvation to these risks is deeply concerning.”
Resistance from Israel
Pan acknowledged that his reporters in Gaza “face difficulty finding food and ensuring safe freedom of movement in order to do their jobs.” The news outlet has backed appeals to the Israeli Supreme Court for safe and enhanced access to Gaza, he noted. It has also evacuated some reporters and their families. Pan said The Times “will continue to push for journalists to be allowed to work securely and without fear or hesitation in Gaza.”
The Foreign Press Association in Israel, a nonprofit representing hundreds of journalists and more than 100 news organizations, has long asked for allowances for reporters to enter Gaza but has been denied by the Israeli government.
Dozens of members of the International News Safety Institute, a nonprofit organization, issued a statement demanding Israel allow journalists in Gaza who are facing starvation to leave — and that international reporters be granted access. The statement was signed by outlets including The Washington Post, The Guardian and The Financial Times.
“Israel must allow other journalists into Gaza,” the statement read. “Nearly two years into the war, no international media have been permitted to independently enter. As local reporters are killed, face the threat of starvation, or try to flee, the world will be systematically cut off from witnessing what is happening. This cannot be allowed to happen.”
Current limits on news coverage
Some reporters have been granted access to Gaza when embedded with Israeli forces, but most reports since the war — sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks by Hamas — have come from Palestinian journalists inside the strip. Conditions have deteriorated so badly that many journalists are struggling to find food.
“We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families,” Reuters, The Associated Press, BBC News and Agence France-Presse said in a joint statement on Thursday, July 24.
The news outlets said that journalists were enduring some of the same dire circumstances as the rest of Gaza’s population of some two million people. The statement urged the Israeli government “to allow journalists in and out of Gaza” and for “adequate food supplies.”
A worsening hunger crisis
The World Food Program recently found that a third of Gazans were going without food for days on end.
The Society of Journalists for Agence-France Presse released a statement on Monday, July 28, documenting the worsening humanitarian situation, including a photojournalist who noted last week that he was unable to work because hunger had left him so weak.
Israel accuses Hamas of widespread looting
From March through May, Israel implemented a blockade on aid entering the enclave, describing it as a pressure tactic against Hamas during ceasefire negotiations. Israeli officials also accuse the terrorist organization of widespread looting of humanitarian aid, though some Israeli military officials and U.S. agencies argue there is no evidence to support those claims.
US analysis contradicts Israel’s claims
An internal review first reported by Reuters, conducted by the U.S. Agency for International Development, found no evidence of widespread theft by Hamas of U.S.-funded aid in Gaza. The findings contradict U.S. State Department allegations that were used to argue in favor of a controversial takeover of a private U.S. and Israeli backed group of aid operations.
The USAID investigation examined 156 cases of waste, fraud and abuse documented by partner groups between October 2023 and May 2025. The analysis reportedly “found no affiliations” with sanctioned groups or foreign terrorist organizations.”
The review determined that only 1% of USAID-funded aid in Gaza was impacted by loss, looting, diversion, fraud or waste.
“There is no evidence that there was a systematic loss due to Hamas interference or theft,” a person familiar with the review told CNN.
Accusations from the Trump administration and Israel
The White House and Israel have repeatedly accused Hamas of widespread theft of humanitarian aid. They argue that only the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), a private U.S. and Israel-supported group, is capable of distributing aid to Gazans without such looting occurring.
“We want to see as much aid getting into Gaza as possible in a way that is not being looted by Hamas, and this mechanism, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has been a way to do that,” State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on Thursday. “We’re calling for additional support of that foundation to deliver that aid.”
The USAID findings were shared with the State Department’s Middle East bureau, humanitarian aid workers, and the USAID Office of the Inspector General. While USAID operations shut down on July 1, oversight remains intact.
The U.N. said Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians while they were trying to access aid. About 60% of those deaths occured near GHF sites.
A State Department spokesperson argued there is “endless video evidence of Hamas looting” and “intelligence” revealing that “a significant portion of non-GHF aid trucks have been diverted, looted, stolen or ‘self-distributed.” The spokesperson did not reportedly provide direct video evidence, but pointed to “the mountain of evidence,” including “publicly available videos on social media.” They also claimed aid workers were lying about looting “in a poor attempt at an aid corruption coverup.”
UN warns of critical aid shortage
Some humanitarian supplies are entering Gaza through U.N. channels, but aid officials say it is nowhere near enough to halt the hunger crisis.
Since May, the Committee to Protect Journalists has reported on the impacts of severe hunger in Gaza on members of the news. The organization has described instances of fainting, exhaustion, dizziness and brain fog. Medical professionals are also facing the same issues.
The group’s regional director, Sara Qudah, accused Israel of “starving journalists into silence” and demanded help for them.
“The world must act now: protect them, feed them, and allow them to recover while other journalists step in to help report,” Qudah said.
Netanyahu denies widespread starvation occurring in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refuted widespread reports of starvation in Gaza and blamed Hamas for stealing aid supplies.
“What a bold-faced lie,” Netanyahu said on Sunday. “There is no policy of starvations in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza.”
He made the remarks during an event hosted by conservative American pastor Paula White in Jerusalem.
On Sunday, Israel announced a pause in military operations in parts of Gaza to allow international aid into the enclave as concern and outrage grows over conditions Palestinians are enduring.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
