Inside Gaza shows AFP journalists trapped in war

“Inside Gaza,” a documentary by Hélène Lam Trong, follows AFP journalists who reported from Gaza while they were trapped in the territory during Israel's military response to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack.

The film was shown in Los Angeles as part of The American French Film Festival. Lam Trong said Palestinian journalists could not leave the war zone like many international correspondents and became victims of the conflict they were covering.

The documentary uses material produced by AFP's Gaza team and interviews conducted after staff members left the territory. It shows reporters, photographers and videojournalists describing the risks of working while trying to survive and protect their families.

The Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 killed more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and armed men took more than 200 people hostage. Israel sealed Gaza's borders and barred international journalists from entering, leaving AFP reliant on local staff to cover the territory.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says Israel's military response has killed 73,000 people. AFP said the ministry's figures are considered reliable by the UN.

Lam Trong said the film seeks to show how news gathering works and why journalists need protection. The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders say about 200 journalists have died in Gaza since the war began.

AFP's office in Gaza was hit, likely by Israeli tank fire, according to an investigation by AFP and other international media outlets. AFP's staff left Gaza in 2024, and the agency says it continues to cover the region using trusted freelance contributors.