Burhanettin Duran, Turkey’s presidential communications chief, said in a post on X that CNN Turk reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman had been detained in Israel.

They were arrested while shooting a live broadcast in Tel Aviv with Israel’s police saying they “allegedly filmed a security facility”.

CNN Turk posted footage of the moment they were stopped while filming in the street outside the Israeli defence ministry compound.

“Following a call… about two suspects who were equipped with cameras and allegedly broadcasting live to a foreign media outlet, a police unit arrived at the scene, halted the broadcast, and began checking the suspects,” a police statement said.

“The suspects, who identified themselves as journalists, presented an expired press card and were taken for questioning.”

Israeli military censorship prohibits the media from filming live broadcasts during air raid sirens or disclosing the exact locations of impact sites.

Duran said Turkey was “making the necessary efforts for the immediate release of our journalist colleagues” and were carefully following the matter.

The Turkish Journalists’ Union (TGS) said the journalists were there to film in connection with the Iran strikes and to share the latest situation with viewers in Turkey.

“Blocking journalists who are responsible for informing the public, and failing to protect journalists in war zones, is a violation of press freedom,” it wrote on X, urging Israel to “release our colleagues”.

CNN Turk is a Turkish news channel that operates under a licensing agreement with the parent company of CNN International.