Five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza, including Anas al Sharif, who had feared he was being targeted for assassination.
Al Sharif died alongside colleagues Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had recently expressed serious concerns about al Sharif’s safety, citing an alleged Israeli military smear campaign against him.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the strike, accusing al Sharif of being a “terrorist” and the leader of a Hamas cell responsible for rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and troops. Al Jazeera condemned the strike as a “targeted assassination” and “another blatant, premeditated attack on press freedom.”
Last month, al Sharif spoke openly about living in constant fear, saying his reporting “harms them and damages their image worldwide.” Since the conflict escalated in 2023, at least 186 journalists and media workers have died in Gaza, with foreign reporters barred from independent coverage.
The Hamas-run Gaza government called the killings “brutal and heinous,” accusing Israel of deliberately targeting journalists’ tents near al Shifa Hospital, labeling the strike a “war crime aimed at silencing the truth and erasing evidence of genocidal acts.”
After al Sharif’s death, a post shared on X, described as his “last will and testament,” read: “If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.” The 28-year-old mourned not seeing his children grow up and asked people not to forget Gaza or him in their prayers.
The CPJ also reported that al Sharif’s father was killed in an Israeli airstrike in December 2023, after the journalist had received threats from Israeli officers demanding he stop his coverage. Israel shut down Al Jazeera’s TV network within its borders in May last year.
