GAZA CITY — On Sunday, an Israeli military assault on Gaza City killed Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al Sharif and four of his coworkers. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) verified the attack and said that Al Sharif was a “terrorist” who “posed as a journalist.”
The IDF says that “Anas Al Sharif was the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organization and was in charge of planning rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF troops.” The military hasn’t shown any public proof to back up these assertions, but they say they are based on information and documents found in Gaza.
The Qatari news network Al Jazeera stated that five of its journalists were killed in the attack. Along with Al Sharif, the others were named as correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa. An official at the neighboring Shifa Hospital, where the attack happened on a tent for journalists, claimed that seven people died in all.
Palestinian journalists’ associations have strongly condemned the killings. Before, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and a UN expert had said that Al Sharif’s life was at danger because he was reporting from Gaza. Last month, UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan said that Israel’s claims against Al Sharif were “unsubstantiated.” The CPJ also asked the rest of the world to keep him safe. After he died, the group said it was worried, saying, “Israel’s pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom.”
Anas Al Sharif, a 28-year-old reporter for Al Jazeera Arabic, was recognized for his thorough coverage of the crisis in Gaza, where he reported on a regular basis. Just minutes before he died, he commented on X about the “intense, concentrated Israeli bombardment” of Gaza City.