Foreign journalists face new restrictions under Israeli policy requiring military approval for coverage of missile strike sites.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Israel has moved to sharply restrict foreign news reporting from areas hit by Iranian missile attacks, enforcing a new wartime censorship policy that bans live or recorded broadcasts of strike locations without prior military clearance.
The directive was announced by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and mandates that all such coverage receive explicit approval from Israeli authorities, including the police, the Government Press Office (GPO), and military censors, according to the Jerusalem Post.
GPO Director Nitzan Chen said the order is part of a “zero-tolerance” campaign, warning that any broadcast from zones under missile fire must first be cleared by the Israel Defense Forces censor.
The clampdown follows a series of missile strikes in Beersheba, Holon and Ramat Gan. In the aftermath, video footage aired by Al Jazeera triggered a government response. The Jerusalem Post reported that other foreign outlets, including CNN and The New York Times, have also been subjected to the new restrictions.
Though some photographers on scene claimed to represent other organizations, Israeli officials asserted that their footage was used by Al Jazeera, which had also broadcast images of an Israeli oil refinery strike—imagery that was off-limits to domestic media under existing restrictions.
“Following the successful coordinated enforcement against Al Jazeera broadcasts and others that violate censorship instructions and harm state security, we are implementing a new policy: All foreign journalists who wish to broadcast from Israel during wartime must receive specific written approval from the military censor — not only for the broadcast itself, but for the precise location, as well,” Ben Gvir and Karhi said in a joint statement.
Enforcement began this week, with Israeli police seizing photography equipment from journalists in Haifa. The Interior Ministry later clarified that those reporters were not linked to banned outlets such as Al Jazeera or Al Mayadeen and would be permitted to work if they adhered to censorship rules.
Ben Gvir defended the measures, saying that real-time reporting of missile impact zones could aid hostile actors and posed a direct threat to Israeli security. “Broadcasts that show exactly where the missiles land on the State of Israel are a danger to the security of the state,” he stated, as reported by the Times of Israel. “Anyone who does this will be treated as someone who harms the security of the state.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the move as overreach, arguing that blanket censorship would be impossible to enforce in the age of smartphones and could backfire diplomatically. “Their decision to impose sweeping censorship will not be enforceable as long as people have cell phones with cameras, and it simply crushes the support that has emerged worldwide over the past week for the just war we are waging,” Lapid said.
Ben Gvir also warned that Israel would adopt “zero tolerance” toward those celebrating Iranian strikes or providing support to Tehran. “Supporting Iran is supporting terrorism, and those who support terrorism should be in custody,” he said, in line with broader Israeli accusations that Iran’s actions amount to war crimes.
Israeli officials maintain that the policy is essential to protecting operational security as missile salvos continue and military operations remain ongoing.