Türkiye condemns Israeli attack on TRT Arabic press team in Gaza

By Gozde Bayar

Türkiye condemned the Israeli army’s attack on a team of Turkish public broadcaster TRT Arabic in Gaza on Friday.

“We condemn this vile attack. This is terrorism. This terrorism must stop and the Western world must oppose this brutality as soon as possible,” Türkiye's Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on X.

A TRT Arabic team vehicle, which was preparing for broadcast in the Nuseirat camp located in the middle of the Gaza Strip, was attacked by the Israeli army.

Sami Shahada, who worked as an independent cameraman, was seriously injured and underwent surgery. TRT Arabic reporter Sami Berhum escaped unhurt.

“Israel targets journalists and attacks freedom of the press to prevent its massacres from being seen. The international community's indifference to these attacks also encourages Israel,” Altun added.

He urged the international community to take action against the atrocities and said those who “remain silent against these systematic attacks are complicit in Israel's crime of genocide.”

Israel has waged a military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

More than 33,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the seaside enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while much of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has urged it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.