AFP warns Gaza journalists at risk of dying from starvation

Agence France-Presse (AFP) and its journalists’ union have issued appeals for the immediate evacuation of local reporters in Gaza, warning that without outside intervention, they may die from starvation or exhaustion amid worsening conditions and ongoing Israeli military operations.

In a statement released on Monday, the AFP journalists’ society (SDJ) said the agency has relied on freelance reporters, including photographers and video journalists, to cover Gaza since international staff were withdrawn in early 2024. With no foreign press allowed to enter the territory for nearly two years, these freelancers are now the only ones able to report from inside Gaza.

“We refuse to watch them die,” the SDJ said. “Their calls for help, heartbreaking, are now daily.”

One of the reporters, Bashar, who has worked with AFP since 2010, posted a message on Facebook saying, “I don’t have the power to cover media anymore. My body is lean and I no longer have the ability to walk.” He is currently living in the ruins of his home in Gaza City with his siblings. He recently reported that his brother had “fallen” due to hunger.

A second journalist shared, “If the situation continues like this for a few more days, we will all die of hunger.”

AFP’s management issued a separate statement, calling the situation “untenable” despite the staff’s “courage, professional commitment, and resilience.”

The agency said that it had previously succeeded in evacuating eight salaried employees and their families between January and April 2024, and said it is now working to evacuate its remaining Gaza-based freelancers and their families, despite severe difficulties posed by the blockade.

AFP stated that the work of its Palestinian freelancers is “essential for informing the world,” but said their lives are now in danger. “We urge the Israeli authorities to authorize their immediate evacuation along with their families,” AFP said.

Founded in 1944, AFP has covered wars, famines, and crises around the world. But, the SDJ said, this is the first time the agency has faced the possibility of losing a colleague to starvation.

“Our colleagues are young. Their strength is leaving them,” the SDJ wrote. “We don’t want to remember having lost a colleague to hunger.”