The Israel-Hamas war is one of the most complex and divisive stories AFP has covered. It touches historical fault lines that are generating visceral emotions in our societies, and in our newsrooms.
The emotion is driven by the scale and brutality of the Hamas attack on October 7 and the existential questions it poses for Israel. It is heightened by stories of immense suffering in Gaza. And it is amplified by the vitriolic debate on social media where violent imagery, misinformation and hate speech are rife.
As AFP works around the clock to explain fast-moving events, we are exposed to accusations of both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian bias. Every word we write is picked over for signs we are leaning one way or the other. Our staff are subjected to unacceptable abuse. It is an extremely difficult environment in which to do quality journalism.
For the record, AFP is not biased. We are fiercely loyal to our statutes which oblige us to report independently to uncover the facts and to bear witness. And for the record, we are very proud of the AFP journalists who are working so hard on this story, some facing extreme dangers. They have produced some extraordinary journalism.
The emotion is driven by the scale and brutality of the Hamas attack on October 7 and the existential questions it poses for Israel. It is heightened by stories of immense suffering in Gaza. And it is amplified by the vitriolic debate on social media where violent imagery, misinformation and hate speech are rife.
As AFP works around the clock to explain fast-moving events, we are exposed to accusations of both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian bias. Every word we write is picked over for signs we are leaning one way or the other. Our staff are subjected to unacceptable abuse. It is an extremely difficult environment in which to do quality journalism.
For the record, AFP is not biased. We are fiercely loyal to our statutes which oblige us to report independently to uncover the facts and to bear witness. And for the record, we are very proud of the AFP journalists who are working so hard on this story, some facing extreme dangers. They have produced some extraordinary journalism.
At AFP, we prioritise putting journalists on the ground to witness events directly. We currently have some 50 journalists working in Israel, the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The majority live there permanently – Israelis, Palestinians, foreigners. They have brought vital expertise, knowledge and sources to the story from day one. They have been joined by some 15 special correspondents in recent weeks.
We have teams crisscrossing Israel reporting on the impact of October 7, which left about 1,400 Israelis dead, mostly civilians. We have been telling the stories of ordinary Israelis and documenting the military build-up. We have reported on the horrific scenes in the communities attacked by Hamas, from the morgues where body parts have been collected and from the festival site where hundreds of young people were shot dead. We are telling the stories of Israeli hostages and their families. We have been present at many heart-rending funerals. And we are making a concerted effort to continue telling stories of the Israeli victims of October 7 even as events in Gaza take centre stage.
In Gaza, we have nine Palestinian staff working in very precarious conditions. They have all fled their homes and evacuated our office in Gaza City when the Israeli military ordered the population to move further south. All that remains is a rooftop video camera beaming live images to TV stations around the world.
AFP.com, “Israël – Hamas: Steady under Fire,” AFP.com, November 2, 2023, https://www.afp.com/en/inside-afp/israel-hamas-steady-under-fire.
