What is it like to be a journalist at Gaza

“I never imagined that one day I would live and work in a tent, devoid of the most basic human needs – even water and bath.

“It’s more like a greenhouse in the summer and a refrigerator in the winter,” journalist Abdullah Mikdad told the BBC.

After a 22 -month war in Gaza, most journalists find themselves working in tents around hospitals to gain access to the electricity and the reliable internet connection they need to do their jobs.

The power is cut into gas, so that hospitals whose generators are still functioning provide electricity for charging telephones and equipment and offering high points with better mobile intake.

But working in hospitals did not provide them with safety, such as Israeli strikes on hospitals and their compounds kill a number of journalists during the conflict.

On Monday, five journalists were among the few 20 people killed in a double Israeli strike at Nasar Hospital in the southern town of Khan Enis.

International newsletters, including the BBC, rely on local reporters in Gaza, as Israel does not allow them to send journalists to the territory, except in rare cases where they are embedded with Israeli troops.

At least 197 journalists and media workers were killed by the Gaza War began after the attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023-189 of them Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza, according to the US Committee for Protection of Journalists (CPJ).

Ahed Favana from the Union of Palestinian Journalists in Gaza told the BBC that he and his colleagues feel directed by the Israeli forces, “which leaves us in a constant fear of our own safety and that of our families.”

After nearly two years of war, journalists are exhausted by continuous work, but demand for news is maintained.

This opened the door to young people in Gaza, some of whom have never worked in journalism before to become reporters and photojournalists.

Some journalists officially work for local or international media, but many have been hired on temporary contracts. This means that their employment is less predictable, and the protective equipment, the insurance and the resources they receive varies greatly.

“Every journalist in the world has the right to enjoy international defense. Unfortunately, the Israeli military does not refer to journalists in this way, especially when it comes to Palestinian journalists,” said Gada Al-Card, a correspondent of the German magazine Der Spiegel, before the BBC (for which he sometimes works).

Israel has repeatedly denied that his forces are directed at journalists.

However, the Israeli military said it was aimed at Al Jazeera’s correspondent Anas Al-Sharif in his media tent in Gaza on August 10, at a strike that killed three other Al Jazeers officials, two freelancers and another man. The military claims that Sharif “served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas,” which he denied before his death.

CPJ said Israel did not provide evidence to support its claim, and accused the Israeli forces of targeting journalists in “deliberate and systematic experiences to conceal Israel’s actions” in Gaza.

Reuters Hasha Al Masri operator was killed at Nasser’s first shot on Monday. The second strike, minutes later, killed the rescuers and four other journalists who arrived at the scene – Mariam Abu Daga, a freelancer working with the Associated Press; Al Jazeera Cameraman Mohammad Salama; Free -law journalist Ahmed Abu Aziz and freelance video journalist Moaz Abu Taha.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incident as “tragic accident”.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that after the initial investigation, “it seems that” troops were hitting “a camera located by Hamas in the Nasser hospital area, which is used to monitor the activities of the (Israeli) troops.” He also identifies six people who are said to be “terrorists” killed at strikes. None of the five journalists were among them.

The military did not provide any evidence and did not explain the second strike.

“When you work inside a tent, you never know what can happen at any moment. Your tent or surroundings can be bombarded – what do you do then?” Says Abdullah Mikdad, who is a correspondent of Qatar-based TV Al-Raraby.

“In front of the camera, I have to be highly focused, mentally alert and fast, despite its exhaustion. But the harder part is to be aware of everything that happens around me and think about what I could do if I am aimed at,” he told the BBC.

Last Friday, hunger was confirmed in Gaza for the first time by a non -supported body responsible for monitoring food security.

The classification of the Integrated Food Security Phase (IPC) reports that over 500,000 people in the Gaza Strip are faced with “hunger, disaster and death”.

Gaza journalists suffer from the same extreme hunger as those who cover.

“A cup of coffee mixed with ground chickpeas, or a cup of unsweetened tea, it can be anything you can consume all day long,” says independent journalist Ahmed Jalal.

“We are suffering from severe headaches and fatigue, unable to go from pure hunger,” he told the BBC, “But we are still continuing with our work.”

Ahmed has been displaced many times with his family, but every time he continues his journalistic work while trying to provide food, water and shelter for his family.

“My heart breaks away from intense pain when I announce the murder of fellow journalists. My mind tells me that I may be next … The pain consumes me inside, but I hide it from the camera and continue to work.”

“I feel suffocated, exhausted, hungry, frightened – and I can’t even stop resting.”

Ghada Al-Kurd says two years of reflection on death and hunger has changed her.

“During this war, we lost the ability to express our emotions,” Gada told the BBC. “We are in a constant state of shock. Maybe we will regain this ability after the war is over.”

Until that day came, Gada kept his fear for his two daughters and her grief for her brother and his family, whose bodies, according to her, were still buried under ruins after an Israeli blow to North Gaza at the beginning of the war.

“War changed our psyche and personalities. We will need a long period of healing to return to what we were before October 7, 2023”

Photo -journalist Amer Sultan in Gaza helped prepare the report.