"In times of war, it is even more critical to ensure that news media professionals can enter, circulate freely and report from conflict zones,” said Timothy Balding, the CEO of WAN. “It is essential to guarantee that news reporting is not restricted or censored and that journalists are not impeded or targeted by any parties to the conflict."

The Paris-based association, the global organisation for the world’s press, called on both Israel and Hamas to allow journalists to work unhindered in the conflict zone.

The ban on journalists entering Gaza has been in place since Israel launched an offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas rocket fire on December 27.

More WAN press freedom protests can be found here.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.