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How do journalists cover a conflict they can’t witness firsthand? That’s one of the hardest parts of reporting on the Israel-Hamas war: Israel restricts outside journalists from entering Gaza on their own, though a few have entered with the Israeli military; they can’t interview people or walk with them to document the dangers of getting food. They can’t talk to Hamas militants or Israeli soldiers freely.
But war reporters find ways to get the truth. Last month, after a number of violent incidents near aid sites in Gaza, several of my New York Times colleagues huddled and discussed why the sites had become so deadly. That question led them to examine satellite imagery, video from Gaza and data from Israel, the U.N. and other sources, and to report with officials and others in the region.
The reporting resulted in a Times article, “How Did Hunger Get So Much Worse in Gaza?,” which uses maps and graphics to show readers the situation in Gaza and how hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, many of them by Israeli forces, while heading toward these aid sites.
I hosted an online conversation with three colleagues who worked on the piece to discuss why they pursued the story, how a collaboration like this works at The Times and what their reporting brought to light. This conversation has been edited and condensed.
Patrick Healy, assistant managing editor based in New York: I was a Boston Globe reporter in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, and in Iraq in 2003, and was able to get to cities like Kandahar and Falluja to talk to a lot of people. Gaza is so different — The Times has two local journalists on the ground there, but this war also forces reporters to think about storytelling beyond the in-person interview. Why did you decide to pursue this story?
Aaron Boxerman, reporter based in Jerusalem: Gaza’s humanitarian crisis has been a key reporting target for us since the war began. And things have deteriorated dramatically, beginning in March with an Israeli decision to block practically all aid going into Gaza. We wanted to map out how some of these policies had played out on the ground, where the situation has also been complicated by rampant lawlessness. Hamas has also made it difficult for journalists on the ground to operate freely, and intimidates its critics in Gaza, which has a chilling effect on people.
Lauren Leatherby, visual editor based in London: It was becoming clear we were seeing a situation even more dire than we had seen before, between the repeated incidents of Palestinians being killed near aid sites and some of the photos and videos coming out of Gaza.
Healy: So, you had a lot of data — how do you bring a story like that together?
Elena Shao, graphics editor based in New York: Numbers and figures are hard to make personal. We typically hear from people whose firsthand experience lends context and intimacy to the data. With Gaza, those interviews are harder to come by, so we have to turn to other sources — witness footage, satellite imagery, historical documents, social media channels and posts — to piece together accurate accounts that are truthful to people’s experiences.
Healy: What was an initial piece of reporting that helped you think about the story?
Leatherby: The number of children reported to have malnutrition this summer was its highest since data became available. The number of Palestinians killed while seeking aid was also the highest it had ever been. The data showed trends that echoed the warnings from dozens of aid organizations and human rights groups. And Israel’s own aid data showed less food going into Gaza than during most other times in the war.
Those separate elements together painted a pretty stark picture.
Shao: A question on my mind was: What does it practically take for Gazans to get aid under the new Israeli aid system? My colleagues Bora Erden and Samuel Granados created a map showing the time it would take to walk to the beginning of the mandated routes to the four aid sites.
Healy: Why was that map important?
Shao: It showed that many Gazans had to walk hours through Israeli militarized zones to get food from the sites. By mid-June, the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced the locations of the sites only a half-hour in advance, and closed them less than 15 minutes after opening.
Healy: What can data show that other reporting can’t? And how do we verify data?
Boxerman: Much of our reporting about the on-the-ground situation at the new aid sites focused on interviewing witnesses to the shootings nearby. That testimony is invaluable, but it’s often just a piece of the puzzle, people recounting flashes of a chaotic scene. Data helps us really get a fuller sense of what we’re hearing.
Leatherby: We cross-reference as much of our visual reporting as possible, especially in situations where we can’t be on the ground. We check videos and photos on social media or captured by independent sources against satellite imagery and other footage, making sure that structures and other identifying features match. We also cross-reference with traditional reporting and photography.
Healy: How was satellite imagery useful in your reporting?
Leatherby: Videos and photos of Palestinians going to the new aid sites showed long journeys, sometimes passing by Israeli military vehicles. Analyzing satellite imagery let us map the military positions that aid seekers needed to pass to get to distribution sites.
Shao: We also used satellite imagery to measure the distance people needed to travel along designated routes. You can see where large and dense crowds of Gazans gathered to wait for aid.
Healy: Take me inside your collaboration, which involved multiple journalists with specific expertise.
Leatherby: During breaking news moments, visual reporters at The Times verify imagery coming from the scene. We also use data, satellite imagery and other digital and open-source reporting techniques to report and tell stories as thoroughly as possible. The goal is to help readers get a full understanding of what’s going on. These methods of reporting can be especially effective in places like Gaza, where outside journalists aren’t allowed.
Healy: In the end, what stood out to you about this piece?
Leatherby: I think the strength of this piece is fact-driven reporting that draws on a lot of elements: interviews, data, videos, satellite imagery, mapping and photography. It brought together a lot of threads that we’ve written about before into one place.
The post How Three Journalists Tracked the Deadly Aid Crisis in Gaza appeared first on New York Times.
