AFP journalists' union denounces the risk of starvation among its staff in Gaza: 'It's unbearable'

The union of the French news agency AFP denounced in a statement that its Gazan staff (including editors, photographers, and videographers) risk starvation if there is no "immediate intervention" in the Gaza Strip, where the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen due to limited access to food and water.

"Since the AFP was founded in August 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had wounded and prisoners in our ranks, but none of us can remember seeing a contributor die of hunger ," the statement said.

"We refuse to hear about their deaths at any time, and it's unbearable," he added.

The union details the conditions in which its employees are living in the devastated Strip, where Israeli bombs continue to fall, like Bashar, 30, who "has lived in absolute poverty for more than a year" and suffers from serious intestinal problems.

"Bashar lives in the ruins of his home in Gaza City. On Sunday morning, he reported that his older brother had died of starvation. Ahlam, meanwhile, survives in the south of the enclave and confirms that her biggest problem is the lack of food and water ," the statement reads.

Gazan journalists have become the sole eyes and narrators of the Israeli offensive inside the Gaza Strip, which has already killed more than 59,000 people, where Benjamin Netanyahu's government has banned the international press from entering since its invasion began in October 2023.

" Although these journalists receive a monthly salary from the AFP , there is nothing to buy, or at exorbitant prices. We see their situation worsening. They are young and their strength is failing them. Most are no longer physically able to move around the enclave. Their heartbreaking cries for help are now a daily occurrence," he adds.

Furthermore, Israeli bombs have killed more than 200 journalists since the start of the offensive . According to Reporters Without Borders, the Palestinian enclave has become the deadliest place in the world to practice journalism by 2025.

The report also noted that leaving the shelters to report by car is equivalent to running the risk of "being a target of the Israeli air force."

“Every time I leave the tent to cover an event, conduct an interview, or document an incident, I don't know if I'll come back alive,” said another journalist, Ahlam.

The union said AFP has relied on freelance reporters , including photographers and video journalists, to cover Gaza since international staff withdrew in early 2024.

"We refuse to watch them die," the group declared. "Their heartbreaking cries for help are now daily."