عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

International Media Group Urges Israel Court to Grant Gaza Access

This aerial view shows Palestinians burying 54 unidentified bodies in a cemetery in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on October 22, 2025, after they were returned by Israel under a US-brokered ceasefire deal. (AFP)
This aerial view shows Palestinians burying 54 unidentified bodies in a cemetery in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on October 22, 2025, after they were returned by Israel under a US-brokered ceasefire deal. (AFP)
TT
TT

International Media Group Urges Israel Court to Grant Gaza Access

This aerial view shows Palestinians burying 54 unidentified bodies in a cemetery in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on October 22, 2025, after they were returned by Israel under a US-brokered ceasefire deal. (AFP)
This aerial view shows Palestinians burying 54 unidentified bodies in a cemetery in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on October 22, 2025, after they were returned by Israel under a US-brokered ceasefire deal. (AFP)

An organization representing international media outlets in Israel and the Palestinian territories said Wednesday it hoped Israel's Supreme Court would approve its petition demanding immediate access for journalists to Gaza.

On Thursday, Israel's Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a petition filed by the Foreign Press Association (FPA) seeking access to Gaza.

Since the Gaza war began in October 2023, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from entering the devastated territory, taking only a handful of reporters inside on tightly controlled visits alongside its troops.

"For over two years, Israel has blocked foreign reporters from going into the territory, greatly hindering the media's ability to cover this devastating conflict," the FPA said in a statement ahead of Thursday's hearing, scheduled for 09:00 am (0600 GMT).

"We are pleased to finally have our day in court and hope the justices will swiftly approve our request to enter Gaza," Tania Kraemer, chairperson of the FPA, said in the statement.

"It is high time for Israel to lift the closure and let us do our work alongside our Palestinian colleagues."

The Foreign Press Association began petitioning for independent access to Gaza soon after the war broke out in October 2023 following Hamas' unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel.

The FPA, which represents hundreds of foreign journalists, has on multiple occasions asked for access to Gaza over the past two years.

But these demands have been repeatedly ignored by Israeli authorities.

An AFP journalist sits on the FPA's board of directors.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has joined the petition filed by the FPA.

While Israel has prevented foreign reporters entering Gaza, its forces have killed more than 210 Palestinian journalists in the territory, Antoine Bernard, RSF's director for advocacy and assistance, said on Tuesday.

"The result is an unprecedented violation of press freedom and the public's right to reliable, independent, and pluralistic media reporting," Bernard said.

"The Supreme Court has the opportunity to finally uphold basic democratic principles in the face of widespread propaganda, disinformation, and censorship, and to end two years of meticulous and unrestrained destruction of journalism in and about Gaza.

"No excuse, no restriction can justify not opening Gaza to international, Israeli and Palestinian media," he said.

On October 10, Israel declared a ceasefire and started pulling back troops from some areas of the territory, as part of US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan to end the war.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Hezbollah Raises Civil War Threat Over Disarmament Plan

Hezbollah members take an oath in front of a monument to Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Beirut in 2022 (AP file photo)
Hezbollah members take an oath in front of a monument to Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Beirut in 2022 (AP file photo)
TT
TT

Hezbollah Raises Civil War Threat Over Disarmament Plan

Hezbollah members take an oath in front of a monument to Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Beirut in 2022 (AP file photo)
Hezbollah members take an oath in front of a monument to Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Beirut in 2022 (AP file photo)

Hezbollah escalated its response to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam over plans to press ahead with restricting weapons to the state and extending the move to areas north of the Litani River, raising the specter of civil war as tensions over the issue intensify.

Mahmoud Qamati, vice president of Hezbollah’s political council, said in a televised interview that statements by the president and prime minister on confining weapons north of the Litani meant the government was heading toward chaos and instability, and toward an internal situation that no one would accept, possibly even a civil war.

The government last week tasked the Lebanese army commander, during a cabinet session, with preparing a plan to restrict weapons north of the Litani, after announcing that the objectives of the first phase of the plan to confine arms to the state south of the river had been achieved.

Qamati’s Position

Hezbollah says that before any discussion begins on the fate of its weapons outside the area south of the river, Israel must stop violating Lebanese sovereignty, withdraw from points it occupies, and release prisoners.

Qamati said on Tuesday that some parties were insisting on implementing foreign dictates and offering concessions to Israel for free and without any return.

He added that the army’s role was not to protect Israel from any military action from Lebanon, but to confront Israel, which he said occupies Lebanese territory.

Accusing some members of the government of collusion to implement a US-Israeli plan for personal calculations, Qamati called for a return to reason, wisdom, and “Lebanese-Lebanese dialogue”.

War Against Whom?

Lebanese Industry Minister Joe Issa El-Khoury expressed surprise at Hezbollah’s threat of a civil war, asking between whom such a war would take place, between an illegitimate armed group and the legitimate army.

Civil wars, he said, usually erupt between illegitimate armed groups, warning that if Hezbollah did not hand over its weapons, other unarmed groups might rearm on the grounds that the army was unable to protect them.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, El-Khoury said it was unacceptable for one group alone to be armed to fight Israel, adding that Lebanon either builds a state together or looks for other projects. While the region was moving forward with strong momentum, he said, Lebanon was moving backward.

El-Khoury said the army’s forthcoming plan to restrict weapons north of the Litani should not include multiple phases, but rather a single phase running until the end of March.

He stressed that linking implementation to the army’s capabilities and resources was misplaced.

He recalled that the strongest militia after the civil war was the Lebanese Forces, which later committed to building the state and handed over its weapons to the army, thereby eliminating the need for army deployment in areas where the group had been present.

That, he said, was what should happen today with Hezbollah.

Party Warning

Sources familiar with Hezbollah’s internal thinking told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group did not want a clash with the army, and that the army did not intend to seize weapons by force.

The warning issued by Qamati, they said, was directed at political forces pushing for disarmament by force. The sources added that the current moves were an attempt to create the right conditions to reach a consensus solution to the issue.

Remarks by Rajji

Hezbollah’s veiled threats of civil war coincided with a fierce campaign by lawmakers from the Shiite duo, Amal and Hezbollah, against Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji.

In a televised interview, Rajji said that the ceasefire declaration approved by the government provided for Hezbollah’s weapons to be confined in return for a halt to Israeli attacks, and that as long as the weapons were not fully confined, Israel, unfortunately, had the right to continue its attacks.

Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar described the remarks as dangerous, saying they required a clear and firm stance from the president and prime minister, as well as a halt to such statements, which he said inflamed internal divisions and served only to benefit the enemy.

Qassem Hashem, a member of the Development and Liberation bloc, said Rajji’s comments went beyond impropriety to justifying Israeli aggression against Lebanon, calling it a violation of sovereignty and a blow to national dignity.

He said the remarks should not pass without accountability in cabinet, and that in a fully sovereign state, the minister would be dismissed.

Another lawmaker from the bloc, Mohammed Khawaja, asked the president and prime minister whether Rajji was truly Lebanon’s foreign minister, accusing him of focusing on finding justifications for Israel.

In response, El-Khoury told Asharq Al-Awsat that Rajji’s remarks reflected the government’s position, not a personal view.

He said the agreement approved by Hezbollah listed the parties authorized to carry weapons and did not include Hezbollah, meaning that the group’s insistence on keeping its arms constituted a breach of the agreement and provided Israel with a pretext to refuse to implement its provisions.

Arab World

Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Gaza Committee Members to Meet Mladenov at US Embassy in Cairo

Palestinian Ali Shaath, a leading candidate to head the Gaza Administration Committee, in a photo released by his family.
Palestinian Ali Shaath, a leading candidate to head the Gaza Administration Committee, in a photo released by his family.
TT
TT

Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Gaza Committee Members to Meet Mladenov at US Embassy in Cairo

Palestinian Ali Shaath, a leading candidate to head the Gaza Administration Committee, in a photo released by his family.
Palestinian Ali Shaath, a leading candidate to head the Gaza Administration Committee, in a photo released by his family.

Palestinian sources reported that figures nominated to lead a temporary Gaza Administration Committee are scheduled to meet on Thursday with Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, the nominee to head the executive body of the Board of Peace, at the US embassy in Cairo.

Sources from civil society and Palestinian factions, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, said that meetings of some factions in Cairo on Wednesday would discuss several issues related to the second phase, including agreement on the names put forward for the Gaza Administration Committee.

They added that there was preliminary acceptance of these names.

The sources said that despite reservations by the Palestinian Authority over the committee, some of its members, and the fact that its work would report to the Board of Peace to be announced by US President Donald Trump, assessments suggest there will be no opposition to it given the current internal Palestinian situation and the urgent need for Hamas to exit the governance scene in Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority had hoped that a minister from the government led by Mohammad Mustafa would assume responsibility for the committee, but Israel and the United States opposed that option.

Arrangements for travel

Regarding travel for committee members based inside Gaza, the sources said arrangements were underway, though the mechanism had not yet been finalized as of Wednesday afternoon. They said members based outside the enclave, in European countries or in Ramallah, including Ali Shaath, who is seen as the likely head of the committee, were expected to arrive in Cairo on Wednesday.

The sources said those already in Egypt were prepared, and that members inside Gaza could be included virtually if travel proved impossible, though that scenario was not expected.

Meetings with Mladenov

The meeting will focus on the committee’s mandate to administer Gaza.

An announcement is expected once agreement is reached on the members and their responsibilities, either on Wednesday or Thursday, ahead of Trump’s anticipated announcement of the Board of Peace. Mladenov would head the board’s executive body and oversee the technocratic committee.

Several meetings between committee members and Mladenov are planned, all at the US embassy, according to some sources, who added that a dedicated financial fund had been designated to support the committee’s work.

Multiple sources said the committee would assume full governmental responsibilities in Gaza and that Hamas would expedite the handover of authority and provide all necessary support.

Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Tuesday evening some of the names expected to join the new committee, which is set to comprise between 15 and 18 members. Most are from Gaza, comprising mainly businessmen, economists, civil society leaders, and academics.

Names obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat include Ali Shaath, a former deputy transport minister in the Palestinian Authority; Abdel Karim Ashour, head of the Agricultural Relief Committees and a civil society activist; Aed Yaghi, head of the Medical Relief Society; Aed Abu Ramadan, head of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce; Jabr al-Daour, president of Palestine University; Bashir al-Rais, an engineering consultant; Omar Shomali, head of Palestinian Telecommunications in Gaza; Ali Barhoum, an engineer and consultant at Rafah municipality, and lawyer Hanaa Terzi.

A civil society source said there was broad agreement on these names so far, adding it was not yet known whether Israel had approved them. Changes could still be made if disputes emerge over any of the nominees.

Arab World

US Says Gaza ‘Phase Two’ Beginning with Goal of Hamas Demilitarization

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)
TT
TT

US Says Gaza ‘Phase Two’ Beginning with Goal of Hamas Demilitarization

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)

President Donald Trump's envoy said Wednesday that a plan to end the Gaza war was now moving to Phase Two with a goal of disarming Hamas, despite a number of Israeli strikes during the ceasefire.

"We are announcing the launch of Phase Two of the President's 20-Point Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction," envoy Steve Witkoff wrote on X.

The second phase will also include the setup of a 15-person Palestinian technocratic committee to administer post-war Gaza. Its formation was announced earlier Wednesday by Egypt, a mediator.

Phase Two "begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel."

"The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences," he said.