The International Press Institute (IPI) joins calls for urgent action to halt the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza as global news organizations warn that their journalists there are experiencing starvation. Israel must immediately allow life-saving food aid to reach journalists and other civilians in Gaza. The international community must also put effective pressure on Israel to allow all journalists to enter and exit the territory and to document the ongoing catastrophe.
In an unprecedented this week, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, BBC News, and Reuters 鈥� four of the world鈥檚 leading news agencies 鈥� said their journalists on the ground 鈥渁re increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families鈥�. The news outlets added: 鈥淛ournalists endure many deprivations and hardships in warzones. We are deeply alarmed that the threat of starvation is now one of them.鈥� Separately, Al Jazeera Media Network said in a t that journalists on the ground 鈥渘ow find themselves fighting for their own survival鈥� due to mass starvation.
AFP and Al Jazeera journalists shared harrowing accounts of conditions on the ground. One AFP photographer was as saying, 鈥淚 no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can鈥檛 work anymore.鈥� Al Jazeera Arabic鈥檚 Gaza correspondent he was 鈥渄rowning in hunger鈥�. In an interview with NPR, AFP global news director Phil Chetwynd that the news agency had been working to evacuate its remaining contributors from Gaza, which requires Israeli permission.
The dramatic warnings come as more than 100 international humanitarian organizations that mass starvation in Gaza was now threatening the lives of humanitarian aid workers themselves, while the civilian death toll continues to rise.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to refuse to allow international reporters into Gaza to report and cover the war and humanitarian situation independently, obstructing the free flow of news and limiting coverage of the humanitarian crisis.
The ongoing conflict has taken a devastating toll on journalists and media outlets in Gaza. Since October 2023, at least 186 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon to monitoring by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).聽
This is the largest number of journalists to be killed in any armed conflict in this span of time to date. Independent investigations such as those conducted by Forbidden Stories have found more than a dozen cases in which journalists were intentionally targeted and killed by the Israeli military 鈥� which constitutes a war crime under international law.
IPI has made repeated calls, in conjunction with our partners, urging the international community to take immediate measures to protect journalists and allow unimpeded access to the strip from international media.
Today, IPI strongly and urgently reiterates these calls, as humanitarian conditions in Gaza rapidly deteriorate and as journalists and other civilians face man-made starvation. The international community must use all diplomatic means at its disposal to pressure Israel to ensure the safe flow of food aid to journalists and other civilians. The response by the international community in this critical moment could be the difference between life and death. There is no more time to lose.