French news agency Agence France-Presse has urged Israel to facilitate the immediate evacuation of its freelance journalists from Gaza, warning that they face an “appalling” and “untenable” situation in the war-ravaged enclave.
AFP, one of the world’s largest news services, made the appeal on Tuesday after an association of its journalists warned that their colleagues in Gaza were facing starvation.
“For months, we have watched helplessly as their living conditions deteriorated dramatically,” the Paris-based agency said in a statement.
“Their situation is now untenable, despite their exemplary courage, professional commitment, and resilience.”
While Palestinian freelancers have been crucial to informing the world since Israel banned foreign journalists from Gaza, Israeli authorities must allow their evacuation as “their lives are in danger”, the agency said.
On Monday, the Society of Journalists, an association of AFP journalists that is independent of management, warned that their colleagues in the enclave were at risk of dying of hunger.
“We fear learning of their deaths at any moment, and it is unbearable for us,” the association said in a statement.
“Along with a few others, they are now the only ones reporting on what is happening in the Gaza Strip. International media has been banned from entering this territory for nearly two years. We refuse to watch them die.”
The association highlighted the cases of several journalists, including a 30-year-old photographer, identified as Bashar, who recently posted on social media that his “body is thin” and he had lost the strength to work.
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