GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Al Jazeera said Sunday that five of its journalists, including a prominent Gaza correspondent, were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent used by media workers outside the main gate of a Gaza City hospital, reported by Arab News.
Among the dead was 28-year-old Anas Al-Sharif, a familiar face to viewers of Al Jazeera Arabic for his frontline reports from northern Gaza. The others killed were reporter Mohammed Qreiqeh and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa.
The Israeli military confirmed it had targeted Al-Sharif, describing him not as a journalist but as “a terrorist” affiliated with Hamas. In a statement posted to Telegram, the Israel Defense Forces claimed Al-Sharif headed a Hamas cell responsible for coordinating rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and troops. “A short while ago, in Gaza City, the IDF struck the terrorist Anas Al-Sharif, who posed as a journalist for the Al Jazeera network,” the military said.
Al Jazeera condemned the attack as a deliberate killing of its staff, while media watchdogs accused Israel of a pattern of branding Palestinian journalists as militants without presenting evidence. “Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted,” said Sara Qudah, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ regional director. The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate called the strike a “bloody crime” and an act of assassination.
Al-Sharif’s death came hours after he posted messages on X describing “intense, concentrated Israeli bombardment” in Gaza City, including a video of nearby explosions. In July, CPJ had called for his protection, warning that the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson had intensified online accusations against him.
More than 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began 22 months ago, according to Reporters Without Borders. With the territory sealed off, Palestinian reporters remain a vital source of coverage for global media outlets, including AFP.
The strike coincided with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of a new offensive aimed at what Israel calls Hamas’s remaining strongholds. Netanyahu also pledged to allow more foreign journalists into Gaza under military escort — even as UN officials warned that Israel’s plans to seize control of Gaza City could trigger “another calamity” with mass displacement and destruction.
Qatar, which funds Al Jazeera, has long hosted Hamas’s political leadership and served as a mediator in indirect talks between the group and Israel.
For Gaza’s press corps, the attack marks yet another devastating loss in a war where cameras and notebooks have become as perilous as any weapon. __ Photo Courtesy Al Jazeera News
