‘We Refuse to See Them Die’: AFP Says Journalists in Gaza Are Starving
Journalists working for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Gaza are starving, the organisation’s union warned this week, describing an unprecedented situation where colleagues are at risk of dying from hunger.
“Since AFP was founded in 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, some have been injured, others taken prisoner. However, none of us can remember seeing a colleague die of hunger. We refuse to see them die,” the AFP journalists’ association said in a stark statement on Monday. One contributor, who has worked with the agency since 2010 as a fixer, freelancer and photographer, said: “My body is thin and I can no longer work.”
The warning comes as France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot reiterated calls for Israel to allow media access to the Gaza Strip, where a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis continues to unfold.
“I ask that the free and independent press be able to access Gaza to show what is happening there and to testify to it,” Barrot said in an interview with France Inter on Tuesday.
Access to Gaza remains heavily restricted by Israel, which has barred most international journalists from entering since the start of the war in October 2023.
Asked specifically about the AFP journalists’ situation, Barrot said France hopes to evacuate some of its local collaborators “in the coming weeks.”
The French minister also condemned Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza.
“There is no longer any justification for the military operations of the Israeli army in Gaza,” he said. “It is an offensive that will aggravate an already catastrophic situation and lead to new forced displacements of populations – something we condemn with the greatest firmness.”
The war began following a deadly Hamas-led attack on Israeli soil that killed more than 1,000 people. Since then, almost 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local officials and international observers.
Meanwhile, pressure on Israel’s government is mounting. On Monday, the foreign ministers of 28 countries – including Malta – and the EU’s humanitarian aid commissioner issued a joint statement condemning “the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children.”
Featured image Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images