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Casablanca – Al Jazeera has confirmed the killing of prominent Gaza correspondent Anas al-Sharif and four of his colleagues in what the network described as a targeted Israeli attack on a tent sheltering journalists near Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital late Sunday evening.
The Qatar-based broadcaster said the strike, which also killed correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, amounted to “a blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom.” Three other people were also killed, bringing the total death toll from the strike to seven.
Al-Sharif, 28, was widely recognized for his on-the-ground coverage from northern Gaza. Just moments before his death, he posted on X about Israel’s “intense, concentrated bombardment,” known as “fire belts,” hitting Gaza City’s eastern and southern neighborhoods.
In a farewell message written on April 6 to be released if he were killed, the reporter vowed he had never hesitated “to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or misrepresentation,” despite repeated personal loss.
The journalist leaves behind his wife, Bayan, and two young children. His father was killed in an Israeli strike last December.
Desperate attempt to silence voices
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have admitted carrying out the attack, alleging their usual talking point that Al-Sharif was a Hamas military operative involved in rocket attacks. Rights advocates and press freedom organizations say the accusations are unsubstantiated.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the killing, warning that “Israel’s pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its respect for press freedom.”
Al Jazeera has accused Israel of fabricating evidence to justify indiscriminately targeting its reporters, describing the killing as a “desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza.”
Since the war erupted in October 2023, Israel has killed at least 237 journalists in Gaza, according to the local government media office. CPJ reports that at least 180 of them are Palestinian, including multiple Al Jazeera staff members and their relatives.
