AFP journalists’ union warns colleagues in Gaza are at serious risk of starvation: ‘We refuse to see them die’

The Journalists Association for Agency France Presse (AFP) says in a statement that its colleagues reporting in the Gaza Strip are at serious risk of starvation, and that “without intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die.”

AFP’s union says it has “one freelance writer, three photographers, and six video freelancers” still working in Gaza after most of its staff departed last year, and that along with a handful of others, they are some of the last journalists reporting on the ground in the Strip.

According to the statement, the news agency’s journalists in Gaza have warned recently that they no longer have enough strength to report, with one photographer in the enclave saying in a post on Facebook on Saturday: “My body is thin and I can no longer work.”

The photographer, identified as Bashar, 30, has been “moving from one refugee camp to another as Israeli bombardments dictate,” the union says in a French-language statement. “For over a year, he has lived in complete destitution and works at enormous risk to his life.”

The union adds that even though the journalists get a monthly salary from AFP for their work, “there is nothing to buy, or only at completely exorbitant prices.”

“We see their situation worsening,” the union says. “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.”

The union adds that “We risk learning of their deaths at any moment, and this is unbearable for us.”

“We refuse to see them die,” it adds.

Responding to the statement, AFP’s management says it “shares the anguish” expressed by the union, and that it has been “helplessly witnessing the dramatic deterioration of their living conditions.”

The agency says it is now working to evacuate its remaining freelance journalists and their families from Gaza, “despite the extreme difficulty of leaving a territory subject to a strict blockade.”

“Since October 7, Israel has banned all international journalists from entering the Gaza Strip. In this context, the work of our Palestinian freelancers is crucial to informing the world,” the agency says.

“But their lives are in danger, so we urge the Israeli authorities to allow their immediate evacuation with their families.”