Gaza City — the war-ravaged enclave of Gaza has now entered a deadly new chapter. Famine has been officially declared in Gaza City, and the last remaining voices documenting the catastrophe, local journalists working for international agencies, are warning that they too are on the brink of death from hunger, as Israel’s ongoing genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza continues.
In an extraordinary public appeal, Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists inside Gaza wrote that without urgent international intervention, “the last reporters in Gaza will die.” Their testimony underscores not only the collapse of basic humanitarian conditions but also the risk of silencing one of the few remaining windows into a war zone largely closed to foreign reporters.
AFP said it is attempting to evacuate freelancers and their families, but many of them have been displaced repeatedly by israeli bombardments, struggling to find food or even safety. one photographer wrote bluntly, “my body is thin and i can’t work anymore.” another staffer said she could not guarantee surviving the walk from her shelter to any evacuation point.
The crisis for reporters is only a small part of the larger humanitarian collapse. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the world’s leading authority on famine declarations, confirmed for the first time that conditions in Gaza meet the criteria for famine. The IPC’s report found that more than half a million people, roughly a quarter of Gaza’s population, face catastrophic hunger. doctors inside the strip are documenting widespread cases of malnutrition, with children’s ribs protruding and their limbs wasting away.
Israel’s military attacks have continued amid the unfolding starvation. Airstrikes and gunfire in recent days killed at least 33 people, including displaced civilians and journalists, even as residents scrambled for food. Palestinian families describe desperate scenes outside aid distribution centers, where Israeli forces have opened fire, further worsening hunger and fear.
The United Nations and aid agencies have accused Israel of deliberately obstructing the entry of sufficient food and medical supplies. While Israel claims it is allowing aid through, humanitarian organizations insist that the deliveries fall far short of need. The blockade, combined with relentless military escalation, has transformed Gaza’s hunger crisis into what rights groups describe as a man-made famine.
Journalists, often the last line of truth, are themselves being erased by starvation. The warning from AFP reporters serves as a grim reminder that silencing media through hunger is part of the broader assault on Gaza’s survival.
According to the Associated Press, AFP confirmed its staff in Gaza are struggling to secure food, and Reuters also said it is offering additional support and potential evacuation to its freelancers. The IPC’s famine declaration marks the first such classification in the Middle East and comes as child deaths from malnutrition are rapidly mounting.
