5 Al Jazeera journalists had been killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza Metropolis on Sunday – amongst them 28-year-old correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who had reported prominently on the battle since its outset.
The opposite 4 Al Jazeera journalists killed had been correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, Al Jazeera stated.
Two others had been additionally killed, the broadcaster stated. Hospital officers named Mohammed al-Khaldi, a neighborhood freelance journalist, as certainly one of them.
The focused assault on a tent utilized by journalists has drawn robust worldwide condemnation together with from the UN, Qatar the place Al Jazeera relies, and media freedom teams.
Israel says Sharif was “the top of a Hamas terrorist cell” however has produced little proof to assist that. Sharif beforehand denied it, and Al Jazeera and media rights teams have rejected the allegation.
The BBC understands Sharif labored for a Hamas media crew in Gaza earlier than the present battle.
In a few of his social media posts earlier than his loss of life, the journalist might be heard criticising Hamas.
Committee for the Safety of Journalists CEO Jodie Ginsberg instructed the BBC there was no justification for Sharif’s killing.
“Worldwide legislation could be very clear on this level that the one people who’re respectable targets throughout a battle are lively combatants. Having labored as a media advisor for Hamas, or certainly for Hamas presently, doesn’t make you an lively combatant”, she stated.
“And nothing that the Israeli forces has produced up to now by way of proof offers us any sort of assurance that he was even an lively member of Hamas.”
The ‘solely voice’ left in Gaza Metropolis
AFP by way of Getty PhotographsAnas al-Sharif grew to become certainly one of Al Jazeera’s most outstanding reporters in Gaza throughout the battle.
Born within the densely populated Jabalia space within the north of the Strip, he labored for Al Jazeera for about two years, the broadcaster stated.
“He labored for the entire size of the battle inside Gaza reporting every day on the scenario of individuals and the assaults that are dedicated in Gaza,” Salah Negm, director of stories at Al Jazeera English, instructed the BBC.
Married with a four-year-old daughter, Sham, and a one-year-old son, Salah, he was separated from them for lengthy stretches throughout the battle whereas he continued to report from the north of the territory after refusing to observe Israeli evacuation orders.
A joint Instagram submit on his official account alongside along with his spouse’s in January this yr confirmed an image of Sharif smiling along with his two kids. The caption stated it was the primary time he was assembly Salah, after 15 months of battle.
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Sharif appeared ceaselessly in reside broadcasts, reporting extensively on the scenario in Gaza.
He reported on the concentrating on of his colleagues, together with outstanding Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi, who had been killed in 2024 in an air strike in Gaza Metropolis.
His father had already been killed in December 2023 when the household residence was focused in an Israeli strike. Hours earlier than he himself was killed, he posted about an intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza Metropolis.
Mohamed Moawad, Al Jazeera’s managing editor, described him because the “solely voice left in Gaza Metropolis” – which Israel now plans to militarily occupy.
Raed Fakih, enter supervisor at Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language channel, instructed the BBC Sharif was “brave, devoted, and sincere – that is what made him profitable as a journalist with a whole lot of hundreds of social media followers from all around the world”.
Fakih, who’s in command of the channel’s bureaux and correspondents, added: “His dedication took him to areas the place no different reporter ventured to go, particularly people who witnessed the worst massacres. His integrity saved him true to his message as a journalist.”
Fakih stated he spoke to Sharif many instances on the cellphone all through the battle.
“In our final conversations, he instructed me in regards to the famine and hunger he was enduring, about how onerous it’s to outlive with so little meals,” he stated.
“He felt he had no alternative however to amplify the voice of the Gazans. He was residing the identical hardships they’re residing now, affected by famine, mourning family members.
“His father was killed in an Israeli bombing. In that manner, he was like all Gazans: carrying loss, ache, and resilience. And even within the face of loss of life, he continued, as a result of it is a story that have to be instructed.”
Mohammed Qreieh, 33, was a father of two from Gaza Metropolis, the Related Press information company reported. Like Sharif, he was separated from his household for months throughout the battle as he reported from the entrance strains in northern Gaza, AP added.
Qreieh’s final reside broadcast was on Sunday night, minutes earlier than he was focused, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.
Israel alleges Sharif led ‘terrorist cell’, with little proof
The Israeli army accused Sharif of posing as a journalist, saying he had “served as the top of a terrorist cell in Hamas” and was answerable for launching rocket assaults at Israelis – nevertheless it has produced little proof to assist these claims.
In an announcement, the IDF stated it had paperwork which “unequivocally show” his “army affiliation” with Hamas, together with “personnel rosters, lists of terrorist coaching programs, cellphone directories, and wage paperwork”.
It has publicly launched some screenshots of spreadsheets apparently itemizing Hamas operatives from the northern Gaza Strip, noting accidents to Hamas operatives and a bit of what’s stated to be a cellphone listing for the armed group’s East Jabalia battalion.
Israel had beforehand accused Sharif of being a member of Hamas’s army wing – one thing he and his employer strongly denied.
Reporters With out Borders (RSF), a media freedom group, stated the allegations towards him had been “baseless” and referred to as on the worldwide group to intervene.
“With out robust motion from the worldwide group to cease the Israeli military… we’re prone to witness extra such extrajudicial murders of media professionals,” RSF stated.
Practically 200 journalists have been killed within the battle Israel launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault, in accordance with RSF.
Fakih from Al Jazeera accused the Israeli army of fabricating tales about journalists earlier than killing them, to “cover what [it] is committing in Gaza”. Israel has beforehand denied concentrating on journalists.
He described this as a “longstanding sample” and referred to the Israeli army’s killing of veteran Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Aqla, who was shot within the head throughout an Israeli military raid within the occupied West Financial institution in 2022.
The Israeli army concluded that certainly one of its troopers most likely killed her, however referred to as her loss of life unintentional. Al Jazeera stated its proof confirmed it was a “deliberate killing”.
“Right here is a vital reality: had Israel been held accountable for Shireen’s assassination, it will not have dared to kill 200 journalists in Gaza,” stated Fakih.
Sharif knew he risked being focused by Israel after its Arabic-language spokesman posted a video of him in July and accused him of being a member of Hamas’ army wing.
In a submit revealed on his X account, which was prewritten within the occasion of his loss of life, Sharif stated he “gave each effort and all my energy to be a assist and a voice for my folks… Don’t forget Gaza.”
