Press Freedom

AFP: Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die.

The following letter is from the Agence France-Presse. Released July 21, 2025.

AFP has been working with one freelance writer, three photographers, and six freelance videographers in the Gaza Strip since its staff journalists left in 2024.

Along with a few others, they are now the only ones left to report what is happening in the Gaza Strip. The international press has been banned from entering the territory for nearly two years.

We refuse to watch them die.

One of them, Bashar, has been working with AFP since 2010, first as a fixer, then as a freelance photographer, and since 2024, as the lead photographer.

On Saturday, July 19th, he managed to post a message on Facebook: “I no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can’t work anymore.”

Bashar, 30, works and lives under the same conditions as all Gazans, moving from one refugee camp to another under Israeli bombings. For over a year, he has lived in utter destitution, working under extreme risk to his life. Hygiene is a major issue for him, with recurring bouts of severe intestinal illness.

Since February, Bashar has been living in the ruins of his home in Gaza City with his mother, four brothers, and sisters and the family of one of his brothers. Their house is devoid of any furnishings or comfort, except for a few cushions. On Sunday morning, he reported that one of his brothers had “fallen, due to hunger.”

Even though these journalists receive a monthly salary from AFP, it is no longer enough to buy food, or they must pay completely exorbitant prices. The banking system has collapsed, and those who exchange money via online bank accounts charge a commission of up to 40%.

AFP no longer has the ability to provide them with a vehicle, and there is not enough fuel to allow these journalists to travel for their reporting. Driving a car means becoming a target for Israeli airstrikes. AFP reporters therefore travel on foot or by donkey cart.

Ahlam, located in the south of the enclave, is holding on “to testify” as long as she can. “Every time I leave the tent to cover an event, do an interview or document a story, I don’t know if I’ll come back alive.”

Her biggest issue, she confirms, is the lack of food and water.

We are watching their situation worsen. They are young, and their strength is leaving them. Most of them are no longer physically able to move around the enclave to do their work. Their heartbreaking cries for help are now daily.

For the past few days, we have only received very brief messages from them, when they have the strength to send any. Their courage, considered heroic by the rest of the world, is now their only hope of survival.

We may hear about their deaths at any moment, and this is unbearable. This Sunday, Bashar wrote: “For the first time, I feel defeated.” Later that day, he said he would thank us “for explaining that we live day to day between death and hunger.” “I wish President Macron would help me get out of this hell.”

Ahlam is still holding on. “I try to keep exercising my profession, to speak for the voiceless, to document the truth despite all the attempts to silence it. Here, resistance isn’t a choice: it’s a necessity.”

Since AFP was founded in 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, some have been injured, others taken prisoner. But none of us can ever remember seeing colleagues die of hunger.

• — The outgoing Editorial Committee (Société de Journalistes, SDJ) of the AFP