Israeli strike kills Anas al-Sharif and four other Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza

Department of Research, Studies and International News -11-08-2025

In yet another grave escalation of its ongoing military campaign against Gaza, Israeli forces have deliberately targeted a group of journalists near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, killing five members of Al Jazeera’s Arabic service, including the well-known correspondent Anas al-Sharif. The attack, carried out late Sunday evening, claimed a total of seven lives.

The journalists, sheltering in a tent positioned outside the hospital’s main gate, were hit by what eyewitnesses described as a precision strike. Alongside al-Sharif, the victims included correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa.

Shortly before his death, 28-year-old al-Sharif, renowned for his fearless reporting from northern Gaza, posted on social media that Israel had unleashed intense “fire belt” bombardments on the eastern and southern parts of Gaza City. His final video captured the deafening roars of explosions and the sky igniting in bursts of orange.

In a farewell message he had prepared in case of his death, al-Sharif wrote of enduring “pain in all its details” and repeatedly tasting “grief and loss,” yet never wavering from his mission to present the truth without distortion. He condemned the silence of those who turned away from the massacres, noting that “not even the mangled bodies of our children and women moved their hearts.” The journalist also lamented leaving behind his wife, Bayan, and the heartbreak of never seeing his children, Salah and Sham, grow up.

A direct assault on press freedom

Al Jazeera Media Network condemned the killings as a blatant and premeditated attack designed to silence journalists documenting the reality of Gaza’s suffering.

“This attack comes amid catastrophic consequences of the Israeli onslaught, which has brought mass civilian deaths, deliberate starvation, and the destruction of entire communities,” the network stated. “The assassination of Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues is a desperate attempt to suppress the truth and pave the way for the ongoing seizure and occupation of Gaza.”

The network called on the global community, media watchdogs, and international bodies to take concrete steps to halt what it described as genocide and to end the deliberate targeting of journalists. “Impunity for perpetrators only emboldens further crimes,” Al Jazeera stressed.

Hani Mahmoud, an Al Jazeera English correspondent who was nearby at the time, said reporting on the death of a colleague he deeply admired was “the hardest thing I’ve done in 22 months of war.” He argued that the journalists were targeted specifically because they documented Gaza’s deepening humanitarian catastrophe, famine, malnutrition, and civilian massacres, providing indisputable evidence of Israeli war crimes.

Unsubstantiated claims of militancy

In its official statement, the Israeli military admitted to the killing but claimed al-Sharif led a Hamas cell involved in rocket attacks. It alleged possession of “unequivocal proof” of his ties to the resistance group.

These accusations were swiftly dismissed by human rights observers. Muhammed Shehada of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said there was “zero evidence” that al-Sharif had any role in hostilities, describing his daily life as “standing in front of a camera from morning until evening.”

The targeting of al-Sharif had been preceded by weeks of incitement. Last month, Israeli army spokesperson Avichai Adraee circulated a video accusing him of belonging to Hamas’s armed wing. United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Irene Khan condemned the threats, noting that “fears for al-Sharif’s safety were well-founded,” given mounting evidence that Israel targets journalists in Gaza under unverified claims of militancy.

Al Jazeera has long accused Israeli authorities of fabricating evidence to discredit its Gaza-based staff, calling such actions part of a “campaign of incitement.” The Committee to Protect Journalists likewise warned last month that al-Sharif faced extreme danger as the subject of an Israeli military smear campaign.

A pattern of eliminating witnesses

Since October 2023, when Israel, backed diplomatically and militarily by the United States, launched its latest large-scale assault on Gaza, over 200 journalists and media workers have been killed. Many of them were Palestinian reporters whose only “crime” was exposing the reality of Israeli bombardments, starvation tactics, and civilian massacres.

The deaths of al-Sharif and his colleagues underscore a broader pattern: the systematic targeting of journalists to erase eyewitness testimony and obstruct independent reporting from Gaza. Rights groups warn that the tactic mirrors other U.S.-Israeli military operations that seek to control the narrative while concealing the human cost of their actions.

Russia, China, and India have repeatedly called for the protection of journalists and an immediate end to hostilities, stressing that peace cannot be achieved while media workers are assassinated for revealing inconvenient truths. By contrast, Washington’s uncritical support for Tel Aviv, coupled with its dismissal of evidence of war crimes, has drawn global condemnation for enabling such acts of impunity.

In Gaza, the killing of Anas al-Sharif has become emblematic of the risks faced by those who refuse to be silent. His words, recorded before his death, now echo as a defiant testament against those who would erase the truth through violence: “I conveyed the truth as it is, without distortion, hoping that God would bear witness against those who accepted our killing.”