News agencies and the BBC are urging Israel to grant journalists free access to Gaza: "We are deeply concerned."

The news agencies AFP, AP, and Reuters , along with the British broadcaster BBC , issued a joint call on Thursday for Israel to "authorize the entry and exit of journalists from Gaza," a territory at risk of famine, according to the UN and NGOs, after 21 months of war.

"Journalists face numerous hardships and difficulties in war zones. We are deeply concerned that hunger now threatens their survival," Agence France-Presse, the US-based Associated Press, the British-Canadian Reuters, and BBC News said in a joint statement.

"We once again urge the Israeli authorities to allow journalists to enter and leave Gaza. It is essential that food reaches the local population in sufficient quantities," they stressed.

International media outlets have expressed their "deep concern about the situation" of their journalists in the Palestinian enclave, "who are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the food needs of their families and themselves."

"These independent journalists have been the world's eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. Now they face the same dire conditions as the people they cover," they concluded.

Testimonies from journalists in danger have multiplied in recent days in Gaza. They report suffering from extreme hunger, a lack of drinking water, and increasing physical and mental exhaustion, which sometimes forces them to reduce their coverage of the war, unleashed on October 7, 2023, by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Hamas movement in Israel.

Israel announced Thursday that it is examining Hamas's response to a proposed 60-day truce in the Gaza Strip , as pressure from international organizations continues to grow over hunger in the devastated Palestinian enclave.

On the ground, Israeli shelling and gunfire continue, killing 22 Palestinians, including children and people waiting for aid distribution, according to the local Civil Defense.

Since July 6, negotiators from both sides have been holding indirect talks in Qatar, attempting to reach a truce that would initially allow for the release of ten Israeli hostages alive, in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinians held in Israel.

But the negotiations, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, have dragged on without results so far, with each side accusing the other of entrenching its demands.

"The mediators have conveyed Hamas's response to the Israeli negotiating team, and it is currently under evaluation," said a brief statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

According to a Palestinian source close to the negotiations, the response includes amendments to the modalities for the entry of humanitarian aid, maps of the areas from which the Israeli army should withdraw, and guarantees regarding a definitive end to the ongoing war since October 2023.

The hostages in question were captured by Hamas during its surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the conflict.

Israel continues to claim that its goal is to destroy the military and governing capabilities of the Palestinian movement.

Its offensive has caused more than 59,000 deaths, according to authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza, and has caused a humanitarian disaster.