Last remaining reporters in Gaza could soon face death due to starvation, AFP’s journalists warned on Tuesday.
French news agency AFP has called for “immediate intervention” in Gaza, warning that the last remaining reporters could soon die due to the Israel-induced mass starvation.
“Since AFP was founded in August 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had wounded and imprisoned in our ranks, but none of us remembers seeing a colleague die of hunger,” the statement posted by AFP’s Society of Journalists in X read.
The journalists’ union said that it had seen all of the ten freelancers’ conditions worsen and that it risked “learning of their deaths at any moment”.
The Paris-headquartered agency soon followed suit, saying it shared the “anguish” expressed by its union of journalists. It currently relies on a writer, three photographers, and six videographers in Gaza for on-ground reports, since all of its staff were evacuated in April 2024.
“Their lives are in danger, so we urgently call on the Israeli authorities to authorise their immediate evacuation with their families,” the AFP said.
Israel’s refusal to allow aid since March and deliberate targeting of aid seekers, in addition to its continuing onslaught, has plunged the beseiged enclave into a famine.
At least 15 people have died due to the worsening conditions, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, due to malnutrition and starvation. Four of them were children.
The SDJ warned that their reporters and the remaining journalists in Gaza could be next, detailing personal accounts of two of its freelancers, Bashar and Ahlam.
“On Saturday, July 19, [Bashar] managed to post a message on Facebook: ‘I no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can no longer work.’
“For over a year, he has lived in complete destitution and works at enormous risk to his life […] On Sunday morning, he reported that his older brother had ‘fallen from hunger.'”
Similarly, Israeli forces have killed 1,054 Palestinians in Gaza, who were trying to access food within two months, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
Ahlam, another journalist, wants to “bear witness” to Israeli atrocities through her reporting, but things were getting tougher, the SDJ said.
“Every time I leave the tent to cover an event, conduct an interview, or document a fact, I don’t know if I’ll come back alive,” the union quoted Ahlam as saying.
Following Israel’s refusal to let the international media in, it has also continued to target journalists in Gaza, making it the deadliest war ever for the newsgatherers.
In addition to the onslaught, the choking blockade has now left everyone helpless with almost no resources left on the ground.
“Even though these journalists receive a monthly salary from AFP, there is nothing to buy, or only at completely exorbitant prices,” SDJ’s statement said.
“We see their situation worsening. They are young, and their strength is leaving them. Most no longer have the physical ability to travel the enclave to do their job. Their heartbreaking calls for help are now daily.”
Lack of intervention to stop the famine could lead to its journalists dying due to hunger for the first time, it added, calling for relevant authorities to act.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot later called on Israel to allow international media to Gaza, also calling for an immediate ceasefire.
It came a day after Israel dismissed a joint statement calling for an end to its war in Gaza, filed by a group of 25 countries, including France and the U.K.
