The freelance journalists in Gaza are facing an “appalling” and “untenable” situation in the war-ravaged enclave, according to the French news agency Agence France-Presse, which has pressed Israel to facilitate the immediate evacuation of their jobs.
After a group of its journalists warned that their colleagues in Gaza were starving, AFP, one of the largest news organizations, issued the appeal on Tuesday.
The Paris-based organization stated in a statement that “for months, we have watched helplessly as their living conditions deteriorated dramatically.
Despite their extraordinary courage, professional commitment, and resilience, they are now untenableable.
Israeli authorities must permit the eviction of Palestinian freelancers because “their lives are in danger,” according to the organization, despite their role in informing the world since Israel has prohibited foreign journalists from Gaza.
The Society of Journalists, an independent association of AFP journalists, warned on Monday that their fellow colleagues in the neighborhood were at risk of starvation.
The organization stated in a statement that “we fear learning of their deaths at any time.”
They are now the only ones to report on what is happening in the Gaza Strip, aside from a few others. For almost two years, international media have been prevented from reporting on this country. We “don’t want to watch them pass away.”
The association highlighted the cases of several journalists, including a 30-year-old photographer named Bashar, who recently claimed on social media that he had lost the strength to work.
None of us can recall ever seeing a colleague die from hunger, the association said, adding that since the organization was founded in August 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts and had injured and imprisoned colleagues.
Oxfam, a UK charity, also issued a warning on Tuesday that its employees in Gaza were among those who were facing starvation.
Bushra Khalidi, the policy lead in the occupied Palestinian territory and Gaza, told Al Jazeera, “We are living this crisis, not just witnessing it.”
She told me on Saturday that she had eaten a single falafel to keep going before going to work, and she still showed up, Khalidi said.
At least 15 Palestinians, including four children, were reported to have died from starvation in Gaza on Tuesday, bringing the total number of malnutrition deaths since the start of Israel’s war to 101.
Israel initially blocked humanitarian aid entering Gaza in March, but it has since allowed a small amount of supplies through the contentious GHF, a group of Israeli and American-backed aid organizations.
Source: Aljazeera
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