A prominent Al Jazeera journalist, Anas Al Sharif, who had previously faced threats from Israel, was killed alongside four colleagues in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday. The attack, which struck a tent near Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City, has been widely condemned by journalist and human rights groups.
According to Israel’s military, Al Sharif, 28, allegedly headed a Hamas cell and was involved in rocket attacks against Israel. The military cited intelligence and documents purportedly found in Gaza as evidence. Al Jazeera firmly rejected these claims, describing the strike as a “desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza.”
Al Sharif’s colleagues, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, and Mohammed Noufal along with an assistant, were also killed in the attack. Gaza health officials reported that two additional people lost their lives in the strike.
Al Sharif, who once worked with Reuters, was part of the team that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Before his death, he had publicly denied Israel’s earlier allegations linking him to Hamas.
Journalist groups have expressed outrage, accusing Israel of targeting media workers without credible evidence. U.N. Special Rapporteur Irene Khan stated last month that Israel’s claims against Al Sharif were unsubstantiated. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) criticized Israel’s repeated pattern of labeling journalists as militants, with CPJ Middle East and North Africa Director Sara Qudah warning that such actions “raise serious questions about Israel’s intent and respect for press freedom.”
Al Jazeera also revealed that Al Sharif had prepared a social media post to be published if he were killed, in which he wrote:
“I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or misrepresentation, hoping that God would witness those who remained silent.”
The incident comes amid heightened tensions, with Hamas warning that the killing of journalists could precede a large-scale Israeli offensive in Gaza City. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously vowed to dismantle Hamas strongholds in the enclave, where a severe hunger crisis continues after nearly two years of war.
Since the start of the conflict on October 7, 2023, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office reports that 237 journalists have been killed, while CPJ places the toll at at least 186.
“Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices in Gaza conveying the tragic reality to the world,” Al Jazeera said in a statement.
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