AFP journalists at risk of starvation in Gaza, news agency says
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."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
23 minutes ago
- Euronews
Macron announces that France will recognise Palestine as a state
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will recognise Palestine as a state, while global anger grows over people starving in the Gaza Strip. In a statement posted on X, Macron said that the decision will be formalised at the UN General Assembly in September. ″Given its historic commitment to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the state of Palestine,'' Macron posted. ″Peace is possible.'' "The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civil population is saved," said Macron. This story is developing and our journalist will update it as more news comes through.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
French President Macron says France will recognize Palestine as a state
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France will recognize Palestine as a state, amid snowballing global anger over people starving in Gaza. Macron said in a post on X that he will formalize the decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September. 'The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved.″ The French president offered support for Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and frequently speaks out against antisemitism, but he has grown increasingly frustrated about Israel's war in Gaza, especially in recent months. "Given its historic commitment to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the state of Palestine,'' Macron posted. ″Peace is possible.'' He also posted a letter he sent to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about the decision. France is the biggest and most powerful European country to recognize Palestine. More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen in Europe. France has Europe's largest Jewish population and the largest Muslim population in western Europe, and fighting in the Middle East often spills over into protests or other tensions in France. The Israeli Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment. France's foreign minister is co-hosting a conference at the UN next week about a two-state solution. Last month, Macron expressed his 'determination to recognize the state of Palestine,' and he has pushed for a broader movement toward a two-state solution, in parallel with recognition of Israel and its right to defend itself. Thursday's announcement came soon after the US cut short Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar, saying Hamas wasn't showing good faith. Momentum has been building against Israel in recent days. Earlier this week, France and more than two dozen mostly European countries condemned Israel's restrictions on aid shipments into the territory and the killings of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food. The Palestinians seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and Gaza, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel's government and most of its political class have long been opposed to Palestinian statehood and now say that it would reward militants after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Israel annexed east Jerusalem shortly after the 1967 war and considers it part of its capital. In the West Bank, it has built scores of settlements, some resembling sprawling suburbs, that are now home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers with Israeli citizenship. The territory's 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in population centers.
Local France
an hour ago
- Local France
Notorious French singer faces new probe over ex-wife's death
Bertrand Cantat, former singer with popular 1980s rock band Noir Desir (Black Desire), was the subject of a widely watched three-part Netflix documentary that aired from March this year. He was sentenced to prison over the killing of actress Marie Trintignant in a Vilnius hotel room in 2003, but worked and performed after being released despite protests and calls for a boycott. Prosecutors in Cantat's hometown Bordeaux said in a statement on Thursday they were looking into "potential acts of intentional violence" against his ex-wife Krisztina Rady, who was found hanged at her home in 2010. Advertisement Prosecutors will look into "several claims and testimonies not included" in four previous investigations into the circumstances of Rady's death, all of which were closed without charges, the statement said. In "The Cantat Case" on Netflix, a nurse claims that Rady visited a hospital in Bordeaux "following an altercation with her partner, a violent argument" which had resulted in a "scalp detachment and bruises." The nurse said he consulted her hospital file out of "curiosity" in the archives of a hospital in the city where he was a temporary worker. Rady, a Hungarian-born former interpreter, had also left a terrorised message on her parents' answering machine before her death. In it, she referred to violence by Cantat, the documentary and a 2013 book written by two French journalists claimed. Bertrand Cantat's lawyer, Antonin Levy, said he was not aware of the reopening of an investigation into the case when contacted by AFP. After being released from jail in 2007, the Bordeaux singer worked on a new album and toured with the band Detroit. His case sparked fierce debate, with many fans prepared to pardon his criminal record and seeing him as someone who had served out his punishment behind bars -- four years out of an eight-year sentence. Advertisement Women's rights campaigners viewed him as a symbol of violent misogyny, even more so after the death of Rady in 2010. The release of his first solo album "Amor Fati" in 2017 sparked more controversy in the midst of the #MeToo movement, which saw women around the world speak out more forcefully about domestic violence and sexual assault. It led to several of Cantat's concerts being cancelled and protests from feminist organisations. At a major concert at the Zenith venue in northeast Paris in 2018 attended by thousands of fans, Cantat targeted journalists saying "I have nothing against you, you have something against me... I couldn't give less of a shit."
