Yahia Barzaq
He was Killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Yahia Barzaq was killed when an Israeli airstrike hit an area in Deir al-Balah where he was present on assignment. According to reports, the strike struck a café where he was uploading journalistic footage, as well as nearby facilities, resulting in multiple fatalities. He was killed while carrying out his professional work documenting the impact of the war on civilians.
Biography
Yahia Barzaq was a Palestinian freelance journalist working with TRT World, widely known before the war for his artistic and tender portrait photography of newborn babies in Gaza. As Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip intensified, Barzaq shifted his work toward documenting the war’s devastating impact on civilians. On September 30, 2025, he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, while on assignment uploading footage. His death marked the loss of a journalist whose work once celebrated new life and later bore witness to mass suffering and displacement.
Yahia Barzaq was a Palestinian journalist and freelance contributor to TRT World. Prior to the war, he gained recognition for his creative and intimate photography of newborn babies, capturing moments of life, hope, and family in Gaza despite long-standing hardship. His portraits were widely appreciated for their warmth and humanity.
Following the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza, Barzaq turned his lens toward documenting civilian life under bombardment. Like many journalists in Gaza, he was forcibly displaced from Gaza City due to Israeli airstrikes and threats of forced evacuation. In his final Instagram posts, he wrote that although his body had been displaced to the south, his heart remained in Gaza City.
On September 30, 2025, while working in Deir al-Balah, Barzaq was reportedly uploading footage at a café when an Israeli airstrike hit the area. Palestinian media reported that the strike also targeted a nearby carpentry workshop. Barzaq was among five people killed near Environment Street. His killing occurred while he was actively documenting the war’s effects on civilians, adding to the growing number of journalists killed while performing their professional duties in Gaza.
Sources & References
Israel kills journalist Yahia Barzaq known for his newborn baby portraits1 aljazeera.com Open source
TRT World's freelance journalist Yahya Barzaq killed in Israeli air strike in Gaza2 trtworld.com Open source