Yahia Barzaq, a Palestinian journalist of Cypriot origin, was killed alongside several civilians in an Israeli airstrike on Deir al-Balah on Tuesday evening, 30 September 2025. He had been working with the Turkish Cypriot media outlet Bugun Kibris and also collaborated with Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT.
Barzaq, a married father of two, had fled Gaza City with his family, walking nearly 20 kilometres to reach Deir al-Balah after Israel announced its assault on the city. Before the war, he was widely known in Gaza as a newborn photographer, celebrated for his creativity and professional achievements.
According to Bugun Kibris, Barzaq had repeatedly appealed to the Turkish Consulate in Jerusalem for evacuation and launched social media campaigns for help, but his efforts failed. In his final messages to the outlet, he voiced anger and despair over the plight of displaced families.
“I swear to you, my hands are trembling with anger as I speak. All the threatened places are now in residential areas. The occupation forces started dropping leaflets telling us to go south. But I don’t want to go south. I don’t want to live on the street, in a tent. I’ve already experienced a year and a half of displacement suffering. Now I don’t want to live the same nightmare again,” he wrote.
In another message, Barzaq said: “I can’t think. I don’t want to be displaced, nor do I want to expose my children to fear. But even if we go, we won’t be able to live safely in a tent on the street. We have neither a tent nor transportation to go to the place the army calls a ‘safe zone’. Besides, the place they want us to go is constantly being bombed.”
He also described the impossibility of moving his extended family: “We’re at war now; we’re not alone. My wife’s family is with us, her elderly parents and aunts over 80 years old. My brother is also in the same area with his mother-in-law, they’re also elderly and injured. We’re so crowded that we can’t think clearly, our displacement is impossible. We’re exhausted, living completely in a nightmare.”
Bugun Kibris reported that despite his persistent pleas, evacuation never came. His death adds to the growing list of journalists killed in the Gaza conflict.
