AFP journalists at risk of starving to death in Gaza 'without intervention,' news agency says

The SDJ union said that AFP still has "one freelance writer, three photographers, and six video freelancers" working in Gaza after most of its staff left the Strip last year.

The journalists' association of the French wire service Agence France-Presse (AFP) warned on Monday that staff working with the agency in Gaza are at risk of starvation and that "without intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die."The Société des Journalistes de l’Agence France-Presse (SDJ) said that the agency still has "one freelance writer, three photographers, and six video freelancers" working in Gaza after most of its staff left the Strip last year.Along with a handful of others, they are some of the last Western journalists reporting on the ground in Gaza."Since 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 recall seeing a colleague die of hunger," the SDJ said in a post on X.In the statement, the SDJ said that AFP's journalists in Gaza have warned that they no longer have strength to report, with one photographer, Bashar Taleb, saying in a post on Facebook: "My body is thin and I can no longer work."He also said that his older brother fell at the weekend with symptoms linked to severe hunger.The union added that even though the journalists receive a monthly salary from AFP for their work, "there is nothing to buy, or only at completely exorbitant prices.""We see their situation worsening," the union said."They are young, and their strength is leaving them. Most no longer have the physical ability to travel the enclave to do their job. Their heartbreaking calls for help are now daily."Responding to the statement, AFP management said it "shares the anguish" expressed by the SDJ union and that it has also been "helplessly witnessing the dramatic deterioration of their living conditions."The agency says it is now working to evacuate its remaining freelance journalists and their families from Gaza, "despite the extreme difficulty of leaving a territory subject to a strict blockade."