The BBC has warned Israel that its journalists are facing starvation in Gaza.

In a joint statement with the world’s largest news agencies, the broadcaster called for “adequate food supplies” to be provided to people in the war-torn area.

It raised concerns about its journalists in Gaza, who they said are suffering the same conditions as the population they are reporting on for the BBC.

Foreign reporters are barred from entering the Gaza Strip, apart from a few short cases of being “embedded” with Israeli forces, and international news organisations rely on journalists based in the war-torn region.

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian journalist Hassan Eslaiah, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on May 13, 2025.

International news agencies Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP) and Reuters as well as the BBC called on Israel on Thursday to allow journalists in and out of Gaza which is subject to a strict blockade.

“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.

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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.

Read moreFRANCE 24, RFI among 130 press groups calling for ‘immediate’ access to Gaza, journalist protection

With Gaza sealed off, many media groups around the world depend on photo, video and text coverage of the conflict by Palestinian reporters working for 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.

Read moreMore than 100 aid groups warn ‘mass starvation’ spreading across Gaza

Since the war started following the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas, journalists have been able to enter Gaza only with the Israeli army and with 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 said this week it was concerned about “the appalling situation” faced by its staff in the Gaza Strip, warning that their lives were in danger.

“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.

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.

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

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

The agency and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had urged Israel to allow AFP’s freelancers and their families to leave the occupied coastal territory earlier this week.

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”.

‘Extinction’

With foreign reporters prevented from entering Gaza and local reporters being killed repeatedly, Gaza was “a place where journalism itself is threatened with extinction”, Reporters Without Borders warned in its 2024 annual report.

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.

Al Jazeera, which has been banned in Israel, says the Israeli military has been targeting its staff since the start of the war because of the channel’s coverage.

“We know that probably most journalists inside Gaza are operating under the auspices of Hamas, and until Hamas is destroyed, they will not be allowed to report freely,” Israeli government spokesman David Mercer told a press conference in December.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Some of the world’s biggest news outlets, including BBC News, have joined forces to voice concern over the desperate plight of journalists in Gaza, warning they are “increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families”.

Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Associated Press, BBC News and Reuters said they were “desperately concerned” about the journalists in Gaza after widespread warnings of mass starvation.

With international reporters barred by Israel from entering the strip, Palestinian journalists have been the only ones able to report from the ground in the war zone.

“We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families,” the news outlets said in a rare joint statement.

0:45 Gaza facing man-made mass starvation, WHO chief says – video

“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.

“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.”

News agencies have been pleading for months with Israeli authorities to allow journalists freer movement to and from Gaza, but those requests have become more desperate in recent weeks after concern over the physical condition of some of those who had been trying to cover the conflict.

This week, AFP asked Israel to allow the immediate evacuation of its freelance contributors and their families from the strip. It followed its warning that those contributors were struggling to work because of the threat of starvation.

View image in fullscreen Aftermath of an Israeli strike on a tent housing journalists in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Photograph: Hatem Khaled/Reuters

Freelance journalists working for international outlets have warned that hunger and a lack of clean water were leading to illness and exhaustion.

A group of journalists working at AFP said this week that “without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die”.

The Society of Journalists at AFP said: “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.”

A photographer working for AFP sent a message on social media at the weekend stating: “I no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can’t work any more.”

BBC in urgent plea for journalists’ lives as they face starving to death in Gaza

The “eyes and ears” of the world in Gaza are at risk of starving to death as four leading news organisations raise the alarm over the welfare of their journalists inside the Strip

Children in Gaza are facing starvation (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)

Four of the world’s leading news organisations, including the BBC, have raised the alarm over the few journalists covering the Gaza crisis starving.

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They say they are “desperately concerned” that their reporters are increasingly at risk because of the impossibility of finding food in the war-torn territory. News of the food scarcity danger facing reporters risking their lives in Gaza broke as top U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff was to meet with key Middle East negotiators for ceasefire talks.

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A joint statement by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the BBC warned: “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.

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Bilal Jadallah, the “Godfather” of Gaza journalism, was killed in 2023

“They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering.” The statement called on Israel to allow journalists in and out of Gaza and allow adequate food supplies into the territory.

It came a day after more than 100 charity and human rights groups said that Israel’s ongoing military offensive is pushing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip toward starvation. Al-Jazeera TV, which has a large team of journalists reporting from Gaza, said hospitals in the Strip have recorded two more deaths “due to famine and malnutrition ” in the past 24 hours.

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War rages on in the Palestinian Strip (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)

That was based on a claim from the territory’s Health Ministry. It says that brings the total who have died from lack of food to at least 113.

Reporting from Gaza has become increasingly hazardous for journalists and Israel has not allowed foreign press into the war-zone. It is now known as one of the most dangerous places in the world to report from. Bilal Jadallah, one of Gaza’s most senior journalists and who had worked with and visited the Daily Mirror in London was killed within weeks of the war starting.

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Israeli troops advance to battle in Gaza (Image: Getty Images)

He was said to have been driving his car when he was targeted by an Israeli missile. Bilal had worked alongside the Mirror during reporting assignments inside Gaza and ran the Gaza Press House, a centre for the Strip’s journalists.

Since then The Committee to Protect Journalists has counted 178 reporters who have been killed in Gaza. On Thursday, Hamas confirmed it had sent its latest ceasefire proposal to Israel, with an Israeli official calling it “workable,” although no details were provided.

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Air over Gaza filled with smkoke after strike (Image: Getty Images)

Israel’s war in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Israel has barred international media from entering Gaza independently throughout the 21-month war. Top U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to head to Italy on Thursday to meet top Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer and discuss the ceasefire deal on the table, according to Israeli and U.S. officials.

Hotel for asylum families asks for ‘understanding’

Image source, Andrew Sinclair/BBC Image caption, About 150 protesters gathered outside the Park Hotel, with some chanting “send them back”

Author, Louise Parry Role, BBC News, Norfolk

2 hours ago

A hotel housing asylum-seeking families has appealed for “understanding and sensitivity” after protesters gathered outside and chanted “send them back”.

About 150 people joined a demonstration opposite the Park Hotel in Diss, Norfolk, on Monday, after the Home Office announced plans to place single adult males there.

“There are currently vulnerable families and children staying at the hotel—many of whom are feeling frightened and uncertain about recent events at the hotel and their futures,” the hotel wrote in a social media statement.

South Norfolk Council said it “welcomes the move by the owners of the Park Hotel to refuse to change from a home for families seeking asylum”.

The Home Office told the BBC it was discussing the issue with the council and local MP.

The hotel said: “The Park Hotel has been contracted by the Home Office to provide accommodation for families.

“This arrangement presently remains in place, despite recent public statements suggesting otherwise.

“We have advised the Home Office and other stakeholders that should this situation change, and we are formally notified that the hotel will no longer operate as a family-only establishment, we will have no alternative but to close the hotel.”

Image source, Google Image caption, The hotel is currently housing 46 children and 34 adults, who are mostly women, the council said

Monday’s protest began just after 17:30 BST, with about 60 people standing opposite the hotel with shouts of “we want our country back”.

They were met by about 30 counter-protesters holding signs reading “refugees welcome”.

The original protest grew in number to about 150 people, delivering speeches and chanting “send them home”.

Green Party MP for Waveney Valley Adrian Ramsay said he had raised concerns with the Home Office about its plans but said the protest that took place was “wrong”.

“Groups from outside our community came here to create fear and division,” he said in a statement.

“That is not who we are. Diss is a town rooted in compassion and decency.”

Image source, Andrew Sinclair/BBC Image caption, A smaller counter-protest took place outside the hotel to say “refugees welcome”

Ramsay said the asylum hotel had been running for two years “without any issues”, but he was “frustrated” at a sudden potential change in use.

“The families staying here have become part of the local community, with many of their children attending local schools,” he said.

“However, late last week we were informed that these families would be told to leave the hotel at short notice”.

South Norfolk Council said it would be meeting with the Home Office on Friday and claimed the proposed change “came out of the blue”.

“We are hoping that the Home Office, at that meeting if not before, will officially reverse its decision and let the families living in the Park Hotel stay in the town that welcomed them so warmly two years ago,” it said.

The authority has no overall control but its biggest group of councillors (23) are Conservative, including the council’s leader, Daniel Elmer

Image caption, One protester’s placard said: “Where are all the women & children? 80% fighting age men”

The hotel added: “We ask for understanding and sensitivity from both the public and the media during this time, as we continue to provide support to those in our accommodation.”

A Home Office spokeswoman previously told the BBC the asylum system was under “unprecedented strain”.

“That was the situation the government inherited, but we have begun to restore order,” she said.

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.

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