BBC BBC BBC BBC’s FREELANCE Journalists to fight for a family feeding

Three reliable Palestinian freelance journalists, which the BBC rely on their gas coverage, shared how they are now struggling to feed their families and often go two or more days without eating.

All men detained their cameras, sending us vital footage, even in the days when their close relatives were killed, they lost their homes or fled from Israeli military advances with their families.

Earlier, a man was seriously injured by a shrapnel by Israeli bombing while he was on an assignment.

But he says that the present time is “the most difficult time I have experienced since I was born. This is a huge crisis of suffering and deprivation.”

Global Food Security experts have not yet classified the Gaza situation as a hunger, but UN agencies have warned of a human hunger.

They accused Israel, who controls all the supplies entering the Palestinian territory, but that denied responsibility.

We agreed not to identify our colleagues by name beyond their security.

They tell us that we cannot provide the most young and the most vulnerable of their loved ones is the most difficult of all.

“My son, who has autism, does not know what is happening around him. He does not know that we are at war and he does not speak,” says one of our operators in the city of Gaza, who is the father of four.

“In recent days, he has been so hungry that he started to hit his stomach with his hand to signal us that he wanted food.”

Our youth colleague, who is in South Gaza, is the main bearer of parents for his parents and siblings.

“I am constantly wondering how to get food for my family,” he tells us. “My little sister, who is 13, continues to ask for food and water and we cannot get any for her. Every water we find will be contaminated.”

The BBC has released a joint statement with other media organizations saying that it is “desperately concerned” about the well -being of local freelance journalists with whom he works in Gaza.

“For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears in Gaza. They are now facing the same difficult circumstances as those who cover,” the BBC and AFP, AP and Reuters news agencies said.

These conditions make the story of what is happening even more challenging.

“I feel tired and exhausted all the time, to a degree of dizziness and falling on the ground,” says a journalist, atelist, who now works with us in Gaza and takes care of his mother, sisters and five children aged two to 16 years.

He says he lost 30 kg (4th 7 pounds) in 21 months of the war.

“I used to perform most news reports at high speed, but now I’m slow to finish them because of my poor health and psychological condition,” he tells us. “Delirium and fatigue accompany me.”

“I can’t describe the feeling,” says our southern Gaza operator. “My stomach curves in nodes and I have a headache, I add to being evaporated and weak. I used to work from 07:00 to 10:00 pm, but now I can hardly make a story. I just feel dizzy.”

He recently collapsed during the photos, but later resumed his job.

Although food shortages are a constant problem during the war, before that they receive salaries from the outside, they can still buy basic deliveries, albeit at excessive prices in local markets. Now even these markets are largely empty.

“I came to the point that I was taking food from the charity cuisine.

Two men say they have set about drinking water with a little salt to try to suppress their hunger. One says he can sometimes buy 50G cookies for his daily diet, but it costs 30 shekels ($ 9; £ 6.60).

Getting money is a test in itself. It now includes the use of money traders.

“If I need money, it is not available at all, but when it is, it is accompanied by a 45%withdrawal fee,” explains an operator of Gaza. “This means that if I go to withdraw $ 1,000, I will only get $ 550. The whole process is exhausting and all suppliers nowadays require cash.”

“The difficulty is because of the closure of banks. These cash transfers are another form of suffering after our hunger,” adds our colleague in South Gaza.

In the past, Israeli accredited BBC journalists like me were able to travel regularly to Gaza to report, even during wartime.

However, after the start of the war on October 7, 2023, Israel, along with Egypt, was still open – prevented foreign journalists from accessing the territory except in limited built -in army.

“Once again, we are calling on Israeli authorities to allow journalists in and outside Gaza,” the BBC and other news organizations said in their statement.

This week, 28 countries, including the United Kingdom, released a joint statement that says, “Gaza war must end now.” They called on Israel to fulfill their obligations on international law and to suspend the “diet” to help.

On Wednesday, more than 100 assistance agencies and rights said that “with deliveries that are already completely exhausted, humanitarian organizations have witnessed their own colleagues and partners to lose before their eyes.”

The organizations have noted that: “Journalists are suffering a lot of deprivation and difficulties in Warzones. We are deeply disturbed, that the threat of hunger is already one of them.”

They added: “It is essential that adequate food supplies reach people (in gas).”

For now, our own colleagues are struggling to pass every day, balancing their responsibilities to their families with their desire to tell the world about the extraordinary difficulties in which their people live.

“It’s catastrophic right now. The hunger has reached every home,” one told us. “It’s like a suspended death sentence.”