The move, which targets major international outlets such as Al Jazeera, CNN, France 24 and The New York Times, empowers the police, the Government Press Office (GPO), and the military censor to enforce stricter controls on foreign reporting of war-related damage inside Israel. According to the directive, enforcement will apply regardless of the media outlet for which the footage is being filmed. Police documented themselves obstructing camera views – images which were later aired, suggesting coordination between field officers and intelligence units. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has since become involved in enforcement.

The crackdown follows incidents on Tuesday in Beer Sheva, Holon, and Ramat Gan, where police arrived at rocket impact sites, confiscated camera equipment, and confronted journalists broadcasting live footage that appeared on Al Jazeera screens globally.

The enforcement has already reached Haifa. Early Tuesday morning, police knocked on the door of a hotel room overlooking the city’s bay area, where two foreign photographers were staying, and confiscated their equipment. According to police, the action followed a tip that individuals intended to record from a balcony facing Haifa Port.