An Israeli airstrike in Gaza City late Sunday night claimed the lives of seven people, among them at least four journalists working for Al Jazeera, the network confirmed.
According to the Israeli military, the strike specifically targeted Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif, accusing him of leading a Hamas cell, a charge he had repeatedly rejected.
Al-Sharif, widely recognized for his extensive on-the-ground coverage of the war in Gaza, was killed alongside fellow journalist Mohammed Qreiqeh and photojournalists Ibrahim Al Thaher and Mohamed Nofal.
“The order to kill Anas Al-Sharif, one of Gaza’s bravest journalists, along with his colleagues, is a desperate attempt to silence voices ahead of the occupation of Gaza,” Al Jazeera said in a statement following the attack.
Just minutes before the strike, Al-Sharif posted on social media, “If this madness does not end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.”
Director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya said Al-Sharif was inside a tent marked with a ‘Press’ sign near the hospital’s entrance when the missile hit, killing at least seven people.
The Israel Defense Forces claimed Al-Sharif had been involved in planning rocket attacks against civilians and Israeli troops. They said they possessed “unequivocal proof” of his affiliation with Hamas through documents allegedly found in Gaza.
“The IDF had previously disclosed intelligence information and many documents found in the Gaza Strip, confirming his military affiliation to Hamas,” their statement read.
Last month, after these accusations surfaced, the 28-year-old journalist had responded publicly, “I reaffirm: I, Anas Al-Sharif, am a journalist with no political affiliations. My only mission is to report the truth from the ground, as it is, without bias. At a time when a deadly famine is ravaging Gaza, speaking the truth has become, in the eyes of the occupation, a threat.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists warned in July that they were “gravely worried” for Al-Sharif’s safety. The group noted he feared for his life after becoming the focus of what he believed was “an Israeli military smear campaign, which he believes is a precursor to his assassination.”
CPJ reports that since the war began nearly two years ago, 186 journalists have been killed, 178 of them Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.
For most of the conflict, Israel barred international journalists from entering Gaza to report independently. Hours before the strike that killed Al-Sharif, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced foreign reporters would now be permitted entry, but only with approval from the Israeli military.
Hamas, earlier on Sunday, accused Israel of “targeting and killing” Palestinian reporters and urged that international media be given “freedom to enter” Gaza.
The United Nations had also pushed back on the claims against Al-Sharif, describing them as “online attacks and unfounded accusations.”
Two weeks ago, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression Irene Khan said, “I am deeply alarmed by repeated threats and accusations of the Israeli army against Anas Al-Sharif, the last surviving journalist of Al Jazeera in northern Gaza.”
Al-Sharif, married with two children, had left behind a final message for his family and colleagues in the event of his death. In it, he wrote, “I urge you to care for my beloved daughter, Shams, the light of my eyes, whom time did not allow me to see grow as I had dreamed. And I recommend you to care for my dear son, Salah, whom I wished to be a support and companion on his journey until he grows strong enough to share the burden and continue the message.”
He concluded with an appeal, “I urge you not to be silenced by chains, nor to be hindered by borders, and to be bridges towards the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom shines upon our occupied homeland.”
