Reuters, AFP and BBC urge Israel to allow journalists in and out of Gaza

LONDON: International wire agencies including Reuters, the Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Associated Press (AP) and the BBC have urged the Israeli authorities to allow journalists in and out of Gaza to save them from starvation.

“We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families. For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering,” the agencies said in a joint statement.

“Journalists endure many deprivations and hardships in warzones. We are deeply alarmed that the threat of starvation is now one of them,” the joint statement said.

“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.”

Earlier, the head of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday said that 21 children had died across the Palestinian territory in the past three days “due to malnutrition and starvation”.

“These deaths were recorded at hospitals in Gaza, including Al-Shifa in Gaza City, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah and Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis… over the past 72 hours,” Mohammed Abu Salmiya told reporters.

According to Reuters, a six-week-old infant and three other children have died of starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, local health officials said, with malnutrition and starvation now killing Palestinians faster than at any point in the 21-month war.

The infant died at a hospital ward in northern Gaza, the health officials said, naming him as Yousef al-Safadi. The teenager, 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. The other two were not named.