Collaborators with France’s AFP news agency are said to “no longer have the physical capacity” to do their jobs
The last remaining Palestinian collaborators for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Gaza are starving, unable to continue working or survive under current conditions, the agency’s internal journalists’ association has warned.
AFP has been relying on ten local freelancers since its staff withdrew from the enclave in early 2024, the Society of Journalists (SDJ) said in a statement on Monday.
“They are young, but their strength is fading. Most no longer have the physical capacity to move through the enclave to do their job,” the association wrote on X.
The freelancers get paid but there’s nothing to buy, the statement explained. They live in “utter destitution,” with some suffering from untreated illnesses and severe malnutrition. With no fuel or vehicles available, the journalists travel on foot or by donkey cart to cover the conflict.
Since its foundation in 1944, AFP has “never faced the horror of watching one of our collaborators starve to death,” the association concluded.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot responded to the statement on Monday, saying the government hopes to evacuate some of the agency’s collaborators in the coming weeks. He also demanded that international press be allowed to enter Gaza “to show what is happening there and to bear witness.”
Israel has banned foreign journalists from the enclave, citing security risks and the need to prevent the leaking of sensitive operational information. Only tightly escorted visits with the Israeli military have been allowed. Last month, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) described the ban as “unprecedented” and called for it to be lifted.
In May, after nearly three months of total blockade, Israel announced it would permit only a minimal flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Officials described the policy as necessary to prevent mass starvation while continuing to pressure Hamas.
International organizations and human right groups have long issued warnings of “catastrophic hunger” and rising fatalities from malnutrition in Gaza.
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The current conflict began in October 2023 after a deadly Hamas incursion into southern Israel left 1200 people dead. Since then, over 59,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
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