Nov 25, 2008 11:15 am US/Pacific
Israel Closes Gaza Border, Bans Foreign Reporters
JERUSALEM (AP) ―
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Hamas militants stand guard during a demonstration by Palestinian Muslims demanding the opening of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt to be able to travel to Mecca for the annual Muslim pilgrimage on Nov. 22, 2008.
Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images
Israel closed its cargo crossings with Gaza Tuesday because of Palestinian rocket fire, just a day after allowing vital humanitarian supplies in.
A ban on foreign correspondents entering Gaza, in effect for more than two weeks, remained in place.
The crossings were opened Monday to allow 42 truckloads of supplies in. But the Israeli military said they were closed again after Palestinian militants fired a rocket at Israel on Monday and another on Tuesday.
The rocket fire and the border blockade are evidence that a five-month cease-fire that stopped a cycle of rocket barrages from Gaza and Israeli retaliation may be close to breaking down.
On a visit to Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was asked about the ban on foreign correspondents in Gaza.
"The reason the passages are closed is completely related to security matters. ... We didn't want to take responsibility for the safety of journalists passing through."
Up to now, foreign correspondents have been allowed to enter Gaza with few restrictions, even when there is heavy fighting. But last week, Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said Israel was displeased with news coverage of Gaza, charging it overplayed Palestinian suffering without adequate explanation of Israel's reasons for closing the border.
On Tuesday, Israel's Supreme Court ordered the government to respond within 15 days to an appeal by the Tel Aviv-based Foreign Press Association against the ban. The FPA, which represents foreign correspondents working in Israel and the Palestinian areas, said it would consider appealing for a quicker hearing.
Heads of leading world news organizations sent a stern letter to Olmert last week demanding that he lift the ban and honor Israel's long-standing commitment to press freedom.
Olmert told reporters in Washington Tuesday he had not read the letter.
"There are security situations in which certain restrictions are set for a short period and it doesn't mean the Israeli government is trying to hide something in the Gaza Strip," he said. "We are not doing anything in the Gaza Strip that we have to hide."
Olmert also denied that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, though Palestinians complain of severe shortages.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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