UPDATE - Journalists injured in Israeli attack on refugee camp in central Gaza Strip

ADDS GAZA MEDIA OFFICE STATEMENT

By Ikram Imane Kouachi

Several journalists were injured Friday in an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Medical sources told Anadolu that among the injured was photojournalist Sami Shehadeh whose right foot was amputated and he sustained various wounds throughout his body.

A correspondent for the Türkiye’s public broadcaster, TRT Arabi, was slightly injured in the attack, said sources at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

They said another journalist, Muhammad Al-Sawalhi, was injured after shrapnel hit his right hand in another Israeli artillery shelling in the area.

It is not the first time that the Israeli army has targeted journalists in Gaza during its war that has been ongoing for more than half a year.

“As part of the genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation army, it targeted 3 Palestinian journalists deliberately and intentionally during their journalistic work and coverage of the ongoing aggression today in the northern Nuseirat camp,” said the Gaza Media Office.

It added that the journalists are: photographers Sami Shehada from the National Media Agency, Mohammed Hassan al-Sawalhi from CNN and Ahmed Bakr al-Louh, who works with several media outlets.

“The occupation targeted the three journalists while they were clearly wearing press vests, and this targeting resulted in the amputation of colleague Sami Shehada's leg, and injuries to the other two journalist colleagues in various parts of their bodies.”

It said: “The crime of targeting the occupation forces against media crews comes within a series of severe violations that have targeted Palestinian journalists.”

The office expressed strong condemnation of “the continued targeting by the Israeli army of media and press crews, deliberately killing, injuring, and amputating their limbs in a clear message to intimidate and threaten them with killing and targeting in an attempt to deter them from performing their journalistic duty and an attempt to silence the truth.”

The International Federation of Journalists and all journalist unions and bodies worldwide were urged to “condemn this crime and pursue the occupation in international forums and courts for its crimes against journalists and media personnel.”

The media office held “the US administration responsible for its involvement in the genocide against Palestinians and its approval of its continuation.”

It also said that “the international community bears responsibility for its failure to stop the continuing heinous and brutal war for the seventh consecutive month.”

At least 140 journalists have been killed as a result of Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, according to data from the Media Office.

Since early Thursday, the Nuseirat camp has been witnessing intense Israeli artillery and air strikes, coinciding with the Israeli army’s announcement of a military operation in areas north of the camp in the central Gaza Strip.

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.

It 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.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi and Rania Abu Shamala