UN calls for ‘transparent,’ ‘credible’ probe into Israeli attack on TRT Arabi in Gaza

HAMILTON, Canada

The UN called on Friday for a “transparent and credible” investigation into the Israeli attack on a team from TRT Arabi in Gaza, the Arabic television channel of the Turkish public broadcaster TRT.

“While do not have the details of this incident. It is yet another stark and clear example of the dangers journalists face in Gaza. This incident, like all others, need to be investigated in a transparent and credible manner,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told Anadolu.

While preparing for a broadcast in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the TRT Arabi team vehicle was attacked by the Israeli army.

Sami Shahada, who worked as an independent cameraman, was seriously injured and had to undergo surgery. TRT Arabi reporter Sami Berhum escaped unhurt.

Earlier at a news conference, Dujarric was asked about reports of recent attack on journalists in Ukraine, where he said “We have no particular details of this but we’ve seen the reports. What I can tell you is that it shows yet again the risks that journalists all over the world take in trying to cover stories.”

“We saw, I think Palestinian journalist working for Turkish news entity in Gaza and our colleagues in Sudan, talked about the Sudanese journalists who are all struggling I think journalists, all over the world is struggling to do their job in safety,” he added.

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.

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