Journalists in Gaza are starving: this hell must stop
Journalists in Gaza are dying as they are reporting on starvation. Some have fainted live on air and others indicated that they no longer have the strength to continue reporting. They are forced to survive on water and salt as there is no clean water and no food.
We echo the urgent appeal by our partner ARIJ, and major outlets including AFP, AP, BBC News, and Reuters.
Through our emergency program Reporters Respond we receive an alarming amount of requests for aid from journalists in Gaza. In just one month, we have received over 200 requests for emergency assistance, mainly for basic living needs such as food, clean water and housing, and for equipment replacement. Prices on the black market have skyrocketed: a kilo of flour now costs over 90 dollars. A basic mobile phone, often the only available tool for reporting as professional equipment has been destroyed and is no longer available, costs thousands of euros. So far we have been able to support over 120 journalists, but the needs far exceed our current capacity.
Since October 2023, journalists in Gaza have been working under the most horrific circumstances.The starvation follows upon months and months of bombardments and deliberate targeting of journalists by Israel. According to CPJ, more than 186 journalists have been killed. Journalists in Gaza face extreme danger: a journalist in Gaza is more than 6 times more likely to be killed than civilians. This is not just because they have a dangerous job. At least 17 journalists have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli forces.
At the same time, Israel has banned foreign press from entering Gaza. Since October 2023, over 4000 international journalists have been denied access. This is unprecedented and sets a dangerous precedent for conflict reporting elsewhere in the world.
As a result, we rely entirely on local journalists for information from Gaza. Journalists who have been reporting while they and their loved ones have been bombed, targeted and are now being starved. They have continued their work informing the world on what is happening, but this is an inhuman burden to carry. If this continues, we risk that there will be no more journalistic news coming out of Gaza.
Free Press Unlimited has continuously called and again call upon the international community to make every effort to ensure that journalists in Gaza and the West Bank are no longer targeted and stand up to the Israeli government for press freedom and the safety of journalists. Urgent UN-led humanitarian support must be provided and Israel must allow international journalists access to Gaza.
