Israel targets, kills five Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza

Five Al Jazeera journalists were among seven people killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza on Sunday night.

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One of them is a prominent voice for the news channel and has been reporting from inside the city since the crisis began in October 2023.

The correspondent, Anas al-Sharif, was targeted in an air raid on a tent at Al-Shifa hospital’s main gate alongside his colleagues — correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and three camera operators, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa.

Shortly after the attack, the Israeli forces claimed responsibility for it, describing Mr al-Sharif as a member of a “Hamas terrorist organisation” who “posed as a journalist for Al Jazeera.”

Citing intelligence and documents found in Gaza as evidence, the Israeli military, in a statement, claimed, “Anas al-Sharif served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organisation and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.”

According to Al Jazeera’s managing editor, Mohamed Moawad, Mr al-Sharif, an accredited journalist, was “the only voice” for the world to know what was happening in the Gaza Strip.

Since the war began, Israel has barred international journalists from freely entering Gaza, and so many news outlets depend on local reporters there for coverage.

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“They were targeted in their tent, they weren’t covering from the front line,” said Mr Moawad, according to the BBC.

“The fact is that the Israeli government wants to silence the coverage of any channel of reporting from inside Gaza.

“This is something that I haven’t seen before in modern history,” he added.

Mr Al-Sharif and the four other Al Jazeera journalists now add to the toll of journalists who have died as a result of the attack on Gaza in the last 22 months.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) put the number of journalists killed in Gaza since 2023 at 186

The CPJ had repeatedly called for the international protection of Mr Al-Sharif before the attack.

It warned that the 28-year-old journalist was at risk of being killed by Israel because he was a “key source of news from Gaza for international audiences since the war began more than 650 days ago.”

In July, the Al Jazeera Media Network raised an alarm about what it described as a relentless effort by the IDF to campaign against its correspondents and journalists in Gaza.

“The Network considers this incitement a dangerous attempt to justify the targeting of its journalists in the field,” it said.

Following his death, a statement, which appears to have been pre-written, was published on Mr Al-Sharif’s X account on his behalf.

It read, “This is my last will and testament. If these words of mine reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.

“Do not forget Gaza… And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.” Shortly before his death, he posted that there was “non-stop bombing” in the area.”