San Francisco Frontiers - International media groups urge Israel to allow access to Gaza

"We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families," the media groups said in a joint statement.

They added that "journalists endure many deprivations and hardships in war zones. We are deeply alarmed that the threat of starvation is now one of them."

"We once again urge the Israeli authorities to allow journalists in and out of Gaza. It is essential that adequate food supplies reach the people there," they concluded.

With Gaza sealed off, many media groups around the world depend on photo, video and text coverage of the conflict provided by Palestinian reporters to international news agencies such as AFP.

International criticism is growing over the plight of the more than two million Palestinian civilians in Gaza, where more than 100 aid and rights groups have warned that "mass starvation" is spreading.

Since the war started following the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas, a small number of journalists have been able to enter Gaza only with the Israeli army and under strict military censorship rules.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in early July that more than 200 journalists had been killed in Gaza since the war began.

- Evacuations -

AFP news agency has published accounts of life inside Gaza from its reporters this week. It has said it is concerned about "the appalling situation" they face due to a daily struggle to find food.

"We have no energy left due to hunger and lack of food," said Omar al-Qattaa, a 35-year-old AFP photographer shortlisted for a Pulitzer Prize earlier this year.

"Obtaining food in Gaza is extremely difficult. Even when it is available, prices are multiplied by 100," video journalist Youssef Hassouna said.

Israel says humanitarian aid is being allowed in and accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering, including by stealing food handouts to sell at inflated prices or shooting at those awaiting aid.

The World Health Organization's chief warned on Wednesday of widespread starvation in Gaza, saying food deliveries into the territory were "far below what is needed for the survival of the population".

Witnesses and Gaza's civil defence agency have repeatedly accused Israeli forces of firing on aid seekers. The UN said the military had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food since late May.

AFP succeeded in evacuating eight staff members and their families from Gaza between January and April 2024, after months of effort.

- 'Starving' -

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a media freedom group, said in a statement on Wednesday that Israel was "starving Gazan journalists into silence".

"They are not just reporters, they are frontline witnesses, abandoned as international media were pulled out and denied entry," CPJ regional director Sara Qudah was quoted as saying.

Many Palestinian journalists have spoken out or posted about their exhaustion, with Sally Thabet, a correspondent for Al-Kofiya satellite channel, fainting after a live broadcast this week, the CPJ said.

Doha-based Al Jazeera, the most influential Arabic media group, also called for global action to protect Gaza's journalists on Tuesday.

The channel, which has been banned in Israel, has had five of its reporters killed since the start of the conflict in what it says is a deliberate targeting campaign by Israel.

In some cases, Israel has accused reporters of being "terror operatives", such as when it killed a Gaza-based Al Jazeera staff journalist and freelancer last year -- allegations condemned by the Qatari news network.

B.Ramirez--SFF