Far-right communications and national security ministers announced on Friday, June 20, that foreign journalists in Israel are now required to obtain prior written approval from the military censor for any broadcast from the country during wartime, including its location, even though the censor holds no such authority.

Foreign photographers will no longer be allowed to film at the scenes of missile strikes in Israel without prior written approval from military censors, under new directives issued by National Security Minister and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi.

Press reporters, security and rescue forces at the scene where a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit at Ramat Gan, June 19, 2025 (Photo: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The move, which targets major international outlets such as Al Jazeera, CNN, France 24 and The New York Times, empowers the police, the Government Press Office (GPO), and the military censor to enforce stricter controls on foreign reporting of war-related damage inside Israel. According to the directive, enforcement will apply regardless of the media outlet for which the footage is being filmed. Police documented themselves obstructing camera views – images which were later aired, suggesting coordination between field officers and intelligence units. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has since become involved in enforcement.

The crackdown follows incidents on Tuesday in Beer Sheva, Holon, and Ramat Gan, where police arrived at rocket impact sites, confiscated camera equipment, and confronted journalists broadcasting live footage that appeared on Al Jazeera screens globally.

The enforcement has already reached Haifa. Early Tuesday morning, police knocked on the door of a hotel room overlooking the city’s bay area, where two foreign photographers were staying, and confiscated their equipment. According to police, the action followed a tip that individuals intended to record from a balcony facing Haifa Port. The photographers were summoned for questioning, and the case was forwarded to the Shin Bet for investigation of potential national security violations.

Last Thursday, the Knesset and Ben-Gvir introduced a new draft of a law targeting journalists who report from bombing sites. The law will prohibit the filming of missile interceptions and impacts, as well as the posting of any related photos and videos on social media. It will also ban foreign media outlets, considered hostile to the state, from filming inside the country during wartime. Moreover, this law will forbid the filming of sensitive or strategic locations. The draft law’s amendments replace fines with prison sentences, ranging from 20 to 30 months for violations.

During last week at least 30 journalists – most of them Palestinian citizens of Israel working for Arab-language and international media, along with foreign journalists – were subjected to physical assaults across the country, racist incitement, denial of access to certain sites, censorship raids and equipment seizure. All this happened while these journalists were attempting to cover events on the ground at bombing sites in Israel. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemns this disturbing wave of attacks targeting Palestinian Israeli journalists in Israel during this period of conflict.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “This wave of assaults and censorship against Palestinian Israeli and foreign journalists in Israel is deeply alarming. Journalists must be allowed to report freely and safely. We call again on Israeli authorities and the public to uphold press freedom as well as to protect all journalists, regardless of their background or affiliation.”

In addition, during the last 20 months into Israel’s war against Palestinians in occupied Gaza, Israel continues to impose an unprecedented ban preventing foreign journalists from entering the Strip. According to the Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel, “Never in Israel’s history has the government imposed such sweeping restrictions on the media for such an extended period. This is a mark of shame for a country that claims to be a beacon of democracy. We salute our Palestinian colleagues who continue to report the story at great personal risk. Nonetheless, the Israeli restrictions have severely hindered independent reporting and robbed the world of a full picture of the situation in Gaza.”

“Our repeated requests for dialogue and access have been snubbed, and the government has sought to repeatedly delay our case to the Supreme Court. We call on Israel to stop the never-ending delays, uphold the fundamental principles of press freedom and allow unrestricted entry for journalists to Gaza,” FPA said.