On October 1, 2025, the world of journalism was shaken yet again as Yahya Barzaq, a freelancer and photojournalist working for Turkish public broadcaster TRT, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the besieged Gaza Strip. Barzaq’s death marked another grave loss among the Palestinian journalists striving to document the devastation and survival in Gaza amid one of the deadliest conflicts the region has ever seen.
Barzaq’s journey into photojournalism was born out of necessity and a sense of duty. Once a newborn photographer, he shifted his focus to capturing the stark realities of war after the Israeli military assault on Gaza began. According to TRT, Barzaq quickly became a crucial voice for his people, using his camera to tell stories that would otherwise be lost to the world. His images, often raw and deeply personal, chronicled both the destruction and the resilience of Gaza’s residents.
TRT Director General Prof. Dr. Mehmet Zahid Sobacı expressed profound grief over Barzaq’s death, stating, “We are deeply saddened. Our colleague Yahya Barzaq, working for TRT in Gaza, was martyred in Israel’s brutal attack. May God have mercy on him. Israel will not be able to hide its crimes against humanity by murdering journalists, and it will be held accountable sooner or later for every drop of blood it has shed.” The broadcaster condemned the strike that killed Barzaq, underscoring the growing sense of outrage and loss felt by media organizations worldwide.
Barzaq’s killing is not an isolated incident. Media rights groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, have repeatedly warned that Palestinian journalists are being deliberately targeted in Gaza. Since the Israeli offensive began last year, dozens of journalists have lost their lives while reporting from the frontlines. The violence has drawn international criticism and intensified calls for accountability and protection for media workers operating in conflict zones.
The scale of the tragedy in Gaza is staggering. According to multiple rights organizations, Israel’s offensive has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, most of them women and children, and left the enclave in ruins. The destruction of media infrastructure has become systematic, with press freedom organizations documenting the obliteration of newsrooms, broadcast equipment, and communication lines. This devastation isn’t just physical—it strikes at the very heart of independent reporting, making it increasingly difficult for the world to witness what is happening on the ground.
In response to the escalating violence and the targeted killings of journalists like Barzaq, the International Press Institute (IPI) and a coalition of press freedom and journalist organizations took decisive action on September 30, 2025. They wrote joint letters to the governments of the Czech Republic, Germany, and Italy, urging them to support a partial or full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The goal: to protect journalists in Gaza and advance access to independent reporting.
According to the IPI, the letters, which were sent to the executive bodies and relevant ministries of the three EU Member States, did not mince words. They stated, “Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted and murdered by Israeli forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work. Media infrastructure in Gaza is systematically destroyed, and censorship has been tightened throughout the West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel. Israel has also taken the unprecedented step of refusing international media independent access to Gaza.”
The coalition’s appeal is rooted in a growing sense of alarm. Press freedom organizations have described Israel’s actions as “the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists that press freedom organizations have ever documented.” The letters highlighted how European public opinion on Gaza is shifting, in part because of the courageous reporting by Palestinian journalists. “Their journalism–the stories, the personal accounts, and the images–has been a testament to the horrors suffered by the Palestinian people. It is imperative that all EU Member States continue to support Palestinian journalists as they carry out their work, while also advocating for international media to have independent access to Gaza,” the letters continued.
Support for suspending certain trade-related provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement is gaining traction among EU Member States, with the European Commission now formally proposing such measures. The coalition of organizations, which includes ARTICLE 19, the Association of European Journalists in Belgium, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, Free Press Unlimited, IFEX, Index on Censorship, and many others, called for the three governments to “immediately and publicly support the partial or full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and encourage other EU Member States to follow suit.”
But the demands did not stop there. The letters urged the governments to strengthen their calls on Israel to allow the urgent delivery of food, clean water, and medical supplies to all journalists in Gaza through protected humanitarian corridors. They also pressed for an end to the blockade on foreign press entry into Gaza, and for robust, independent investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for the starvation and killing of journalists.
As the conflict drags on, the targeting of journalists has become a flashpoint for international condemnation. Rights organizations and media watchdogs argue that the deliberate attacks on journalists and media infrastructure are not only violations of international law, but also attempts to suppress the flow of independent information from a region in crisis. The absence of foreign press and the destruction of local media leaves the world reliant on the few remaining Palestinian journalists who continue to risk their lives daily.
Colleagues of Yahya Barzaq remember him as more than just a photographer; he was a storyteller, a chronicler of suffering and hope, and an unflinching witness to history. His death is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by journalists in conflict zones, but also of the power and necessity of their work. As demands for accountability grow louder, the international community faces a critical test: Will it act to protect those who risk everything to bring the truth to light?
For now, the world watches as calls for justice echo across Europe and beyond, with the fate of Gaza’s journalists—and the future of independent reporting in the region—hanging in the balance.
