Israeli Police Assault Turkish Broadcast Team in East Al-Quds
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Reporters from a Turkish broadcaster accused Israeli police of assaulting a team member, with footage suggesting an officer smashing a journalist’s camera using the barrel of his rifle.
The TRT news crew, working in East Al-Quds’ Old City, reported clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians near Al Aqsa Mosque on Friday.
Israeli police interfered physically with the TRT news team, breaking their camera as they covered Israeli forces’ actions against Palestinians heading to Al Aqsa Mosque.
A still image from a short video circulating online depicts Israeli officers standing in the street before the camera lens is shattered by an individual out of frame.
Israeli officials have not responded to the allegations, though the regime’s military has a long history of damaging journalists’ properties or even killing them.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesperson, Fahrettin Altun, condemned Israel for the assault, accusing its forces of massacring civilians and impeding press duties.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported the Gaza conflict as the deadliest for reporters since 1992, with at least 42 journalists and media workers killed. Most deaths were Palestinian, while four Israeli reporters and a Lebanese national also lost their lives.
The Israeli regime's foreign ministry claimed Palestinian freelance photojournalists working with Western news organizations were embedded with Palestinian resistance groups.
Since October 7, Israeli military actions in Gaza have resulted in over 12,000 Palestinian deaths, including more than 5,000 children, per local officials.