Gaza, April 13 : At least three Palestinian journalists were injured in an Israeli shelling targeting them at the Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, Palestinian sources said.

Eyewitnesses told Xinhua news agency on Friday that the Israeli artillery fired a shell towards a group of journalists while they were covering events in the Nusseirat camp.

On Thursday, the Israeli army announced the start of a surprise military operation on the outskirts of the Nusseirat camp, Xinhua news agency reported.

Medical sources told Xinhua news agency that the three injured journalists arrived at the Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. One of them suffered an amputation of his right foot and scattered shrapnel wounds on his body, while the other two sustained moderate injuries.

There was no comment from the Israeli army on the incident.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-run government media office said in a statement that the Israeli army targeted the three journalists while they were wearing vests with clear "Press" markings.

The statement considered it "a crime of targeting media crews as part of a series of severe violations against Palestinian journalists".

The statement condemned the Israeli army's targeting of media crews as "deliberate and intentional in a clear message to intimidate and threaten them in an attempt to silence the truth".

The International Federation of Journalists was called upon to "condemn this crime and pursue the occupation in international forums and courts for its crimes against journalists and media professionals".

It is not the first time that the Israeli army has targeted journalists while they were covering events during the ongoing war since October 7 last year.

Nearly 140 journalists have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip over the past six months, according to data from the Gaza government media office.

/IANS