Biden urged to pressure Netanyahu on Press freedoms

Washington July 22, 2024 (QJ) -President Joe Biden is being urged to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lift the blanket ban on international media entering the besieged Gaza Strip, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and seven other human rights and press freedom organizations.

In letters sent to the White House and U.S. congressional leaders, the groups called on the U.S. to “ensure that Israel stops killing journalists, allows immediate and independent media access to the besieged Gaza Strip, and takes urgent steps to enable journalists to report freely throughout Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Biden on Tuesday and is expected to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.

The letters were signed by Amnesty International USA, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Knight First Amendment Institute, the National Press Club, PEN America, Reporters Without Borders, and the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.