These journalists from Gaza risk their lives to cover the war: «Nothing is safe around you» 

The issue. Journalists from Gaza are risking their lives to report on the current conflict. A new piece by our colleague Matthew Leake describes many of the challenges they face with the help of reporters Nagham Mohanna, Youmna ElSayed and Yousef Alhelou. The piece also includes comments from Jodie Ginsberg, President of the Committee to Protect Journalists, who speaks about the unprecedented death toll of this war in which at least 63 journalists have been killed since 7 October.
 An unsafe environment. These journalists do not have the ability to cover the war from the sidelines and retreat to relative safety when necessary. They are living in the Strip along with their families. «If you wear your flak jacket and your helmet, you have the press logo, and you are moving with a car that has the TV logo, even all of that doesn’t protect you,” says Mohanna, who works for The National, a UAE-based newspaper.

 Impossible decisions. Fears that their work could risk the wellbeing of their families also weigh heavily on the journalists reporting from Gaza. Youmna ElSayed, a reporter for Al Jazeera English, says: “This war is very personal for us. We feel it in our homes and in our families. I’m not able to be just a reporter who’s totally focused on her work because I’m also focused on the safety of my family.”

 A dire situation. London-based journalist Yousef Alhelou said the journalists from Gaza he hears from are struggling to fulfil their most basic needs. «You don’t have a shelter or an office, you face difficulty recharging your phone and you run out of internet data,» he says. «Many can’t find food or even drinking water. Toilets are not available and having a shower has become a dream.»

Read the piece

MORE FROM US ON THE CONFLICT

 Reporting on Gaza from afar. The war has highlighted the power and the limits of open source reporting. This piece by our colleague Gretel Kahn looks at this topic with the help of three women experts: Manisha Ganguly, Kolina Koltai and Nadine Ajaka. · Read the piece 

 Debunking misinformation about the war. One week into the conflict, we spoke to BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh on his work debunking false visuals on different platforms. «The volume of misinformation on Twitter was beyond anything I’ve ever seen,» he said. · Read the piece

 Protecting yourself from vicarious trauma. Our colleague Marina Adami reached out to experts Andrea Lampros and Alexa Koenig and spoke to them about how journalists can safeguard their health while confronted with graphic visuals from Gaza and beyond. · Read the piece