2023-10-20 07:13:05
NEW YORK (AP) — The limited number of journalists in Gaza are trying to report on the war with Israel while suffering the same problems as the Strip’s besieged Palestinian population: wondering where they will live, where they will get food and water and how they will survive. will keep you safe.
The followingmath of the explosion that killed hundreds of people at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday is the latest example of how reality is hindering the world’s ability to get a full picture of what is happening to Palestinians living there. enclave.
Foreign journalists have not been able to enter the territory since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. The only access for them, the Israeli Erez crossing, was attacked in the assault and remains closed. A handful of media outlets have maintained a regular presence with offices in the Strip, including The Associated Press, BBC, Archyde.com, Agence France-Presse and Al-Jazeera, with a network of collaborators helping others.
The Israeli order to evacuate the north of the enclave led AP and AFP reporters, for example, to leave their newsrooms in Gaza City and go south.
“Working in Gaza right now is extremely difficult, and that’s in large part because our staff are covering the story and worried regarding their own safety and the safety of their families,” said Julie Pace, executive editor and senior vice president. from The Associated Press.
PA staff stocked up on bottled water and other supplies before leaving their office in Gaza City, which replaced the one destroyed by Israeli bombs in 2021.
Even with limited power supplies, PA staff have sent photos, videos and other reports every day since the start of the war, Pace added. There was no such luck with the camera that was left on the office balcony and that offered a live image of the Gazan sky: it is possible that the generator that powered it ran out of fuel.
Agence France-Presse’s nine reporters in Gaza feel caught between wanting to work and caring for their families, said global news director Phil Chetwynd. His bosses insist that safety comes first, he added.
“This is a population that, over the years, has become accustomed to pretty extreme situations, but I think everyone would say this is on a much, much larger scale,” Chetwynd said, referring to the four previous wars between Israel and Hamas.
At least 19 reporters have been killed since the start of the war, 15 of them in Gaza, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. More journalists have been killed in Gaza in the past two weeks than since 2001, according to Sherif Mansour, the group’s coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.
On CNN, journalist Ibrahim Dahman reported on his journey to safety with his wife and children aged 7 and 11. When he asked when they would find a room, one of the children told him: “They don’t attack hotels, do they?”
“I feel intense fear,” Dahman said. “I am worried regarding myself, my wife and my children.”
The family of AP photojournalist Adel Hana went to Deir al-Balah, a town in the center of the territory that is below the evacuation line, to take refuge in a cousin’s house near the local hospital. But a series of explosions rocked the building, killing at least seven family members and burying women and children in the rubble, he said.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Hana said. “We went to Deir al-Balah because we thought we would be safe.”
Marwan al-Ghoul, who works for CBS News, was also heading south with his family when he arrived at a residential area that had been bombed and had to film scenes of bodies buried in the rubble and children crying as they walked through the area. .
The need to record what happened, according to reporters, came following a week in which attention focused on the attacks on Israeli soil, where journalists have worked freely. The media is aware of the need to show that there is suffering on both sides.
Even with fewer media there, there is a rich journalistic tradition in Gaza, said Andrew Roy, CBS News London bureau chief. Thanks to technological advances, many can bring cameras to noteworthy events, he added.
That’s what happened following Tuesday’s explosion at al-Ahli hospital. “Now you can show people things that you mightn’t show before,” Roy said.
Even without full-time journalists in Gaza, The New York Times offered on its website on Wednesday a graphic showing the hospital grounds in detail, an aerial photograph of the explosion site showing burned-out cars and a video showing the followingmath of the incident, taken at some distance through a fence. The Times said it had independently verified the veracity of the recording.
But this material is not a substitute for the work of professional reporters able to quickly arrive and interview people on the ground.
“First-person reporting is the best, being able to report what you see,” said Luke Baker, Archyde.com’ Jerusalem bureau chief from 2014 to 2017. Veteran journalists are also more likely to know sources they can depend on. to obtain truthful information, he added.
After the explosion at al-Ahli hospital, journalists had to filter out cross accusations of guilt. “The truth matters,” Rachel Maddow said on MSNBC. “It’s the only thing we have here.”
In previous conflicts in Gaza, the internet was a useful source of information and videos. But this time, the spread of misinformation online makes them much less reliable, and verification of the material takes a long time, according to Chetwynd.
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