- “Any person who prints or publishes printed matter or a publication regarding the location of a strike or hit by enemy war materiel,” must submit to the military censor for approval.
Following the emergence of footage and images showing the extensive aftermath of Iranian strikes on its territory, Israel has moved to prevent further circulation of information, ensuring that neither journalists nor independent YouTube channels can now document what’s happening within the country.
Towards this, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) Censor Head, Brigadier General Kobi Mandelblit has issued updated IDF censor guidelines regarding reporting on missile and drone impact sites in a statement published by the Government Press Office on Wednesday afternoon.
The order requires “any person who prints or publishes printed matter or a publication regarding the location of a strike or hit by enemy war materiel, including missiles of any kind and UAVs, in the media or online (including social media, blogs and chats, etc.)” to submit it to the military censor for approval before it is published.
This includes both media published in Israel and abroad, Mandelblit clarified.
General Mandelblit also updated that he is prohibiting the “printing or publishing of any publication that has not been submitted to the Censor, or which has been submitted to him and his instructions have yet to be received or have been received and not adhered to.”
Violating this order is “liable to severely harm the security of the state,” he added, stating that any violators will be charged.
Already, Western journalists have been ordered to halt live coverage and are now permitted only to report after coordinating with Israeli authorities.
Furthermore, Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir warned residents on Monday they would face arrest by Police for publishing related footage on social media. Consequently, CNN, Fox News, AP, and a number of other Western media outlets ceased live broadcasts from Israeli cities by Monday midnight.
While Israel has always tightly censored security and military matters, the scale of destruction from Iran’s missile barrages since Friday proved impossible to conceal entirely.
Written with reports from The Jerusalem Post, news agencies