Israeli forces 'deliberately target' TRT Arabi crew in Gaza's Khan Younis

Israeli forces have once again targeted a crew from Turkish public broadcaster TRT in Palestine's Gaza, where they have been working to inform the world about the ongoing massacres in the besieged enclave.

TRT Arabi correspondent Sami Barhoom and his team's vehicle were shot at with long-barrelled weapons on Sunday, with five bullets striking the car. There were no casualties, but Barhoom sustained light injuries.

"While we were on a field mission for the TRT network, we were directly shot by Israeli forces in the northwest of Khan Younis," Barhoom said, adding that the bullets directly targeted their face and chest.

"We were on a field mission ... (and) this car is for the press. To wear the protective gear and helmet is all that indicates that we are journalists," Barhoom said.

Türkiye's Head of Communications Fahrettin Altun condemned the attack, which took place as the TRT team was "trying to report that there is no more space left even in the cemeteries in Gaza."

"Israel will certainly be held accountable for its genocidal crimes as well as its attacks and massacres against TRT and other journalists who opened a 'communication corridor' from Gaza to the world," he added, conveying his well wishes to Barhoom.

'Risking death to convey the truth'

"We will never give up being the voice of Gaza, despite all obstacles from the terrorist state of Israel, which recognises no moral or humanitarian boundaries," TRT's Director General Zahid Sobaci said in a statement on X.

Deputy Director General Omer Faruk Tanriverdi reported that despite the attack by "genocidal Israel," the TRT team "are standing tall."

"As our brother Sami and our entire team always say: 'No matter what happens, we will continue to convey the facts and events in Gaza,'" he added.

AK Party Spokesperson and Deputy Chairman Omer Celik also condemned the Israeli attack, saying: "Netanyahu and his network are trying to prevent the massacres they commit from being heard."

"We once again salute our brothers and sisters who risk death to convey the truth on behalf of the conscience of all humanity in conditions where even a medical team cannot enter," he added in a statement on his social media.

TRT crews have been attacked by Israeli forces several times before in Gaza, as well as in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Barhoom himself was targeted earlier this year while reporting from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza in April.

His colleague, TRT Arabi cameraperson Sami Shehadeh, was grievously wounded and lost his leg following the attack. According to eyewitness accounts, the Israeli army deliberately targeted the group of journalists.

Press mortality in Gaza

Journalists covering Israel's 10-month-old offensive on Gaza are dying at a rate far higher than that of other professions, suggesting they are being deliberately targeted by the Israeli military, according to a respected journalists group.

"The mortality rate among journalists is much, much higher than in other civilian professions. Indeed with more than 12 percent of Gazan journalists dead, it's a mortality rate that would be unusually high for infantry soldiers," Tim Dawson, deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), told Anadolu.

On August 10, two journalists — Tamim Ahmed Abu Muammer from Palestine Television and Abdullah Mahir al-Susi from Al-Aqsa Channel — were killed in Israeli attacks, adding to the rising toll of press casualties in the Gaza conflict, which Gaza Media Office said stood at 168.

Dawson said Israel's actions violate both international humanitarian law and the laws of war.