Five Al Jazeera journalists among seven people have been killed in an Israeli strike near Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, according to international media.
Broadcaster BBC reported, referring to the Al-Jazeera channel, that correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, alongside cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa were in a tent for journalists at the hospital’s main gate when it was struck on Sunday.
The Qatar-based channel, in a statement, said that it was a targeted assassination. “It was yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom,” the broadcaster said.
BBC reported that shortly after the strike, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it had targeted Anas al-Sharif.
In Telegram post, the IDF claimed that he had “served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas”. The IDF, however, did not mention any of the other journalists who were killed.
Al Jazeera reported that a total of seven people were killed in the air strike. Initially, it stated that four of them were journalists affiliated with the channel; later, it revised the number to five.
Mohamed Moawad, Managing Editor of Al-Jazeera that al-Sharif was an accredited journalist who was “the only voice” for the world to know what was happening in the Gaza Strip.
Throughout the war, Israel has not allowed international journalists into Gaza to report freely. Therefore, many outlets rely on local reporters within the territory for coverage.
“They were targeted in their tent, they weren’t covering from the front line,” Moawad was quoted as saying by the BBC.
Last month, the Al Jazeera Media Network – along with the United Nations and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) – issued separate statements warning that al-Sharif’s life was in danger, and calling for his protection.
According to the CPJ, 186 journalists have been confirmed killed since the start of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in October 2023.
