A prominent Al Jazeera journalist, Anas Al Sharif, and five colleagues were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, in an attack condemned by human rights and journalist groups.
Al Sharif, 28, was part of a Reuters team that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
He was among four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant killed in the strike near Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City, according to Gaza officials and the network. The other journalists were Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal. A hospital official said two other people were also killed.
A sixth journalist, Mohammad Al-Khaldi, a local freelance reporter, was also killed in the airstrike, according medics at Al Shifa Hospital said on Monday.
Al Jazeera described the strike as a “desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza,” and called Al Sharif “one of Gaza’s bravest journalists."
According to the Israeli military official statement posted on Telegram, Al Sharif “posed as a journalist” for Al Jazeera and served as the head of a Hamas terrorist cell. The IDF alleged he was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and Israeli troops, citing intelligence and documents recovered in Gaza, including personnel rosters, lists of training courses, phone directories and salary records, as proof of his role in Hamas and his integration into Al Jazeera.
The media organisation rejected the claims, and before his death Al Sharif had denied earlier Israeli allegations linking him to Hamas.
The statement added that the IDF used precision munitions, aerial surveillance and other measures to avoid civilian casualties.
A press freedom group and United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan had previously warned that Al Sharif’s life was at risk due to his reporting, saying Israel’s claims lacked substantiation.
Sara Qudah, Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the Committee to Protect Journalists’ said “Israel’s pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom.”
Minutes before his death, Al Sharif posted on X that Gaza City had been under intense bombardment for more than two hours.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said 237 journalists have been killed since the war began on 7 October, 2023.
The Committee to Protect Journalists puts the death toll at at least 186.
Friends, colleagues and relatives embraced and consoled one another on Monday as they gathered at Sheikh Radwan Cemetery in the heart of the Gaza Strip to mourn the journalists.
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