A secret specialized unit within the Israeli police force has been uncovered monitoring foreign journalists seeking entry to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, new reporting from Israeli outlet Haaretz has revealed. The surveillance unit operates in close coordination with Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority, with personnel posted at international border crossings and the Allenby Bridge Crossing, the primary entry point from Jordan into the occupied West Bank.
Haaretz obtained internal police documents detailing the surveillance of Italian freelance journalist Alessandro Stefanelli, who has made multiple trips to Israel and the West Bank over his career. Israeli authorities labeled Stefanelli as critical of the Israeli state, describing him in official records as a reporter and photographer who produces “one-sided coverage of Israel”.
In July of last year, Stefanelli received formal notice that his Israeli visa had been revoked, with the Israeli embassy in Rome offering no explanation for the sudden cancellation. When the journalist attempted to enter the West Bank via the Allenby Bridge Crossing several months later, he was turned away by immigration officials.
Stefanelli later filed a court petition challenging the entry ban, prompting Israeli police to add additional damning accusations to their file against him. The police report claims Stefanelli “calls for international intervention against ‘settler violence’ and draws a one-sided map” of the region, and further alleged he maintains “in contact with militants”.
For Stefanelli, the unsubstantiated claims are deeply alarming. Speaking to Haaretz, he called the accusations “ridiculous in the extreme”, noting they place him on official watchlists alongside suspected terrorists. “I have trouble understanding how a police officer in a democracy can write such things,” Stefanelli said, adding that such documents are only prepared under the assumption that sitting judges will accept their unvetted claims at face value.
His attorney, Tamir Blank, has condemned the surveillance program as a direct attack on press freedom. “It’s astonishing and disappointing that the police… are investing resources into monitoring journalistic articles and restricting freedom of expression,” Blank told Haaretz, warning the unit is barely distinguishable from authoritarian “thought police” that target dissenting opinion.
Israeli police have defended the program, telling Haaretz all operations comply with existing domestic legislation that grants authorities the power to bar foreign nationals from entering the country if the individual or their affiliated organization is found to act against Israeli state interests.
The surveillance of Stefanelli is part of a broader, escalating crackdown on press freedom across Israel and the Palestinian territories that has accelerated sharply since October 2023. Since that date, Israel has banned all independent journalist entry to the occupied Gaza Strip, requiring all reporters to enter under mandatory Israeli military escort. Just last month, Israel’s Supreme Court delayed its ruling on whether to lift the entry ban for the 11th time, after failing to receive any formal response from the Israeli government on the issue.
Three major press freedom and journalist organizations – the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and the Foreign Press Association in Israel (FPA) – have joined a longstanding court petition demanding the ruling go forward and unimpeded access be granted to Gaza. Despite the advocacy, Supreme Court deputy president Noam Sohlberg rejected the request for an immediate ruling and granted the state another extension to prepare its response.
Foreign journalists working within Israel already operate under severe restrictions, with the Israeli government moving to ban prominent international news outlet Al Jazeera on unproven claims it poses a threat to national security. In Gaza, the situation is far deadlier, the CPJ says: Israel is carrying out “the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists” in modern history.
The group’s statement confirms that Palestinian reporters are routinely targeted for their work: “Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted, and murdered by Israeli forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work.” Official CPJ data puts the death toll of journalists at 263 killed by Israeli forces since October 2023, with an additional 174 injured and 107 detained in Israeli prisons.