LONDON: More than 60 organizations are demanding Israeli authorities allow free and unrestricted media access to Gaza, in the latest in a series of appeals.

In an open letter issued on Thursday and backed by bodies in 26 countries, major news outlets including Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, the BBC, CNN, The Guardian, and The New York Times criticized Israel for imposing a near-total ban on international media.

“More than 100 journalists have been killed since the start of the war and those who remain are working in conditions of extreme deprivation,” the organizations said in the letter.

“The result is that information from Gaza is becoming harder and harder to obtain and that the reporting which does get through is subject to repeated questions over its veracity.”

The letter emphasized the “unreasonable and untenable burden” placed on local journalists to document events, and stressed Israel’s obligation to “uphold press freedom by granting foreign media immediate and independent access to Gaza.”

The bodies also called on Israel to fulfill its international commitments to protect journalists as civilians.

Media organizations and civil society groups have consistently urged Israel to allow independent access to international news organizations seeking to report from the Gaza Strip.

They argue that the current restrictions intensify pressure on local journalists and foster an environment in which misinformation can thrive.

Exceptions to the ban have been rare, although some journalists have been permitted entry under direct Israeli military supervision.

The release of the letter precedes a scheduled visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the US, during which he plans to meet President Joe Biden and address the US Congress on July 24.

LONDON: Microsoft has been accused of shutting down email accounts associated with Palestinians who used Skype to make phone calls to Gaza.

A BBC investigation found that several Palestinians living abroad had their Microsoft-owned voice and video chat app accounts terminated without warning, effectively “destroying their digital lives.”

“I’ve had this Hotmail account for 15 years,” said Salah Elsadi, a Palestinian living in the US who was interviewed by the BBC.

“They banned me for no reason, saying I violated their terms — what terms? Tell me.”

The investigation uncovered at least 20 cases in which Palestinians had their accounts suspended without any explanation.

Those affected explained that with a paid Skype subscription, it is possible to call mobiles in Gaza cheaply, making it a lifeline for many Palestinians while the Internet is down.

In some instances, these email accounts were more than 15 years old, and users had no way to retrieve emails, contacts or memories. Some reported that their email accounts were linked to their work.

“We are civilians with no political background who just wanted to check on our families,” Eiad Hametto, who has been calling his family from Saudi Arabia, he said.

“They’ve suspended my email account that I’ve had for nearly 20 years. It was connected to all my work. They killed my life online,” he said.

Some individuals speculated that the cancelation of their accounts might be linked to Microsoft suspecting connections to Hamas.

Microsoft did not respond directly to the accusation that these individuals had been labeled as Hamas, but a spokesperson stated that it did not block calls or ban users based on the calling region or destination.

“Blocking in Skype can occur in response to suspected fraudulent activity,” they said without elaborating, adding that users were advised that they could appeal the decision.