BBC Launches Emergency Radio Service For Gaza

deadline.com:

The BBC has launched an emergency radio service for Gaza. BBC News Arabic will go live from Friday with the station, broadcasting one program per day on medium wave at 3 p.m.

GMT (7 a.m. PT) before adding another the following week at 5 a.m. GMT (10 p.m. PT). Produced out of London and Cairo, the emergency station will “provide listeners in Gaza with the latest information and developments as well as safety advice on where to access shelter, food and water supplies,” according to the BBC. “BBC News Arabic are extremely well-placed to offer this vital service for the people of Gaza at a time of greatest need,” said BBC World Service Director Liliane Landor. “Their expertise and specialist knowledge of the region alongside the BBC’s reputation as the most trusted news provider, means we can reach civilians in Gaza with the information they need.” The BBC has previously launched emergency services in Ukraine and Sudan, along with a similar service in Gaza during the previous conflict 10 years ago.

Although communications have mostly returned in the past couple of days, Deadline reported over the weekend on how international TV networks and news agencies had been unable to provide live coverage or video updates out of the Gaza Strip, as Israel stepped up its military campaign on the Palestinian territory.

The conflict has now entered its fourth week – sparked by the Hamas-led October 7 massacre, which killed around 1,400 civillians in Israel and saw 200 kidnapped.