(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The Qatar Press Center (QPC) condemns in the strongest terms the assassination of photojournalist Yahya Barzaq (pictured), who brought smiles to many families with his professional documentation of newborns in Gaza.

The assassination occurred as a result of an Israeli air strike on the city of Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza Strip.

The QPC affirms that the Israeli occupation continues its systematic policy of targeting journalists' locations, homes, and tents, annihilating them in Gaza to prevent them from conveying the truth to the world and to silence their voices forever.

This brings the number of journalists martyred in the Gaza Strip to 253 since Oct 7, 2023, in addition to the wounding and arresting of hundreds, and the targeting and destruction of media institutions and headquarters.

The QPC reiterates its call on the international community, UN, human rights, and media organisations to condemn the targeting of journalists in Gaza and to take urgent action to hold the Israeli occupation accountable before international courts for war crimes against journalists and media professionals, as they are the first line of defence for the truth and the voice of the field.

Impunity has encouraged the Israeli occupation forces to continue their campaign of assassinations, arrests, and intimidation of journalists, in full view of the world.

Palestinian photographer Yahya Barzaq's page, which celebrates newborn babies, has been transformed into a book of condolences and mourning for the passing of a photographer who witnessed the details of the genocide and documented, through his lens, the tragedy of Gaza amidst the rubble, as it endures the horrors of siege, bombardment, and starvation.

Qatar Press Center Yahya Barzaq

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