The Israeli military announced that it killed an Al Jazeera journalist, Anas Al Sharif, in a Gaza airstrike, accusing him of being a Hamas cell leader. However, rights advocates and Al Jazeera itself dispute this claim, arguing he was targeted for his frontline reporting and that Israel has failed to provide evidence for its accusation.
Al Jazeera and Gaza officials confirmed that Al Sharif, 28, was among a group of four journalists and an assistant who were killed in a strike on a tent near Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City. An official at the hospital stated that two other individuals were also killed in the same attack.
Al Jazeera praised Al Sharif as “one of Gaza’s bravest journalists,” and described the attack as a “desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza.” The Israeli military, in a statement, claimed that Al Sharif was the head of a Hamas cell and “was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF [Israeli] troops,” citing intelligence and documents allegedly found in Gaza as proof.
Journalist organizations and Al Jazeera have strongly condemned the deaths. The other journalists killed were identified as Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, and Mohammed Noufal.
A press freedom group and a UN expert had previously warned that Al Sharif’s life was in danger due to his reporting from Gaza. Last month, UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan stated that Israel’s claims against him were unsubstantiated. Al Jazeera revealed that Al Sharif had left a social media message to be posted in the event of his death, which read, “[…] I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or misrepresentation, hoping that God would witness those who remained silent.”
In October of last year, the Israeli military had named Al Sharif as one of six Gaza journalists it alleged were members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, based on what it said were documents listing people who had completed training courses and received salaries. At that time, Al Jazeera issued a statement “categorically reject[ing] the Israeli occupation forces’ portrayal of our journalists as terrorists and denounc[ing] their use of fabricated evidence.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which had urged international protection for Al Sharif in July, stated that Israel has not provided any evidence to support its allegations. Sara Qudah, CPJ’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, said, “Israel’s pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom.”
Minutes before his death, Al Sharif, who had over 500,000 followers on his X account, had posted that Israel was intensely bombarding Gaza City. Hamas has suggested that this killing may precede a new Israeli offensive. A statement from the group read, “The assassination of journalists and the intimidation of those who remain paves the way for a major crime that the occupation is planning to commit in Gaza City.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously stated his intention to launch a new offensive to dismantle Hamas strongholds in Gaza, a region where a hunger crisis is escalating after 22 months of war. Al Jazeera said, “Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices in Gaza conveying the tragic reality to the world.” According to the Gaza government media office, 237 journalists have been killed since the war began on October 7, 2023, while the Committee to Protect Journalists reports at least 186 journalists have died in the conflict.
