Twenty-seven governments belonging to the Media Freedom Coalition issued a joint statement on 21 August calling on Israel to grant “immediate independent foreign media access” to the Gaza Strip and to ensure the safety of reporters covering the conflict. The signatories — which include the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and Japan — said unrestricted press access is vital to documenting what they described as an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe. The United States and Canada, both founding members of the coalition, did not sign the declaration. Ottawa offered no immediate explanation for its absence, breaking with its usual practice of endorsing the group’s positions on journalist safety. The statement condemns what it calls the unprecedented targeting of media workers and cites data from the Committee to Protect Journalists indicating that at least 192 journalists and media staff, most of them Palestinian, have been killed in Gaza, Israel, the West Bank and Lebanon since the war began nearly two years ago. It urges thorough investigations and prosecutions for any attacks on reporters. Israel has barred independent foreign correspondents from entering Gaza since the conflict erupted in October 2023, allowing only tightly controlled tours under military escort. The Israeli High Court has upheld the restrictions on security grounds, a position media organisations and press-freedom groups continue to contest. In a separate communiqué the same day, 21 countries — some of them also signatories to the media statement — urged Israel to halt a recently approved settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, underscoring widening international pressure on the Israeli government over its policies in the Palestinian territories.