5 Al Jazeera workers, described as among the many “last remaining voices within Gaza”, have been killed in an Israeli air strike on Sunday night.
Correspondents Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, digicam operators Ibrahim Zaher and Moamen Aliwa, and their assistant Mohammed Noufal, died after a strike on a tent close to al Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
The Israeli army defended the focused assault, asserting that probably the most outstanding of the group, Sharif, was the top of a Hamas terrorist cell and solely “posed as a journalist” – claims constantly denied by Sharif himself, Al Jazeera and the Committee to Defend Journalists (CPJ).
Al Jazeera referred to as the killing a “targeted assassination” and described its workers as a number of the “last remaining voices within Gaza”.
Who was Anas Al-Sharif?
The 28-year-old had turn out to be one of the vital recognisable faces in Gaza on account of his intensive reporting because the starting of the Israel-Hamas battle in October 2023.
Born in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, Sharif went on to check at al Aqsa College and graduated from the college of media, based on Al Jazeera. Earlier than becoming a member of the Qatari-funded community, he’s believed to have volunteered on the Al Shamal Media Community.
After the battle broke out, Sharif reported on each day life in Gaza amid airstrikes, starvation and the rubble of destroyed neighbourhoods. He remained largely within the north of Gaza, detailing the results of Israel’s bombardment.
Evaluation: Israel silences extra essential reporting voices from inside Gaza
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Gazan journalist Anas Al-Sharif
In a broadcast in July, Sharif was filmed crying on air as a lady behind him collapsed from starvation. He stated on the time: “I am talking about [the] slow death of those people.”
His work gained him an enormous presence on social media, with 1.6 million followers on Instagram and 562,000 on X. It additionally made him a recognisable determine to the numerous who watch Al Jazeera Arabic – which falls underneath the broader Al Jazeera media community.
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The aftermath of the strike on Al Jazeera journalists. Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters
He’s survived by his spouse and two kids, Salah and Sham.
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Al Sharif along with his two kids
Who have been the opposite journalists?
Fellow Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, 33, was a local of Gaza Metropolis. He earned a level in journalism and media from the Islamic College of Gaza and have become identified for his eloquent approach of talking, based on Al Jazeera.
Earlier within the battle, he and Sharif have been separated from their households, the Related Press reported.
After they managed to reunite throughout a short ceasefire earlier this yr, their kids appeared unable to recognise them, based on video footage they posted on the time.
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(L-R) Anas al Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh
Digicam operator Ibrahim Zaher, 25, was from the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Al Jazeera reported, as was assistant Mohammed Noufal, 29.
The broadcaster doesn’t say the place cameraman Moamen Aliwa was born or his age.
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Al Jazeera reporter Hani Mahmoud, who’s in Gaza, stated everybody within the group labored “round the clock covering all of the horrific acts going on”.
He stated it’s “very difficult to imagine how the coverage will continue without them”.
As of 5 August, not less than 186 journalists and media staff have been killed in Gaza, based on the CPJ. The dying of Sharif and his colleagues marks the primary time through the battle that Israel’s army has instantly claimed accountability after a member of the press was killed in a strike.
Of their assertion confirming their function they repeated the declare that Sharif was a member of Hamas.
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Mourners carry the physique of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al Sharif.
Pic: Reuters
It comes at a time when the overseas press is more and more counting on Palestinian journalists, native reporters and humanitarian staff to offer particulars of what’s going on contained in the territory. Israel has largely barred worldwide media from coming into Gaza since 2023.
Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, stated the lethal strike might sign the beginning of an Israeli offensive.
Condemning the deaths of the journalists, the UN’s Human Rights Workplace accused Israel of a “grave breach of international humanitarian law”.
In a publish on X it referred to as on the nation to “respect and protect all civilians, including journalists”.
The workplace additionally claimed the variety of Palestinian journalists which have been killed in Gaza is not less than 242, greater than the CPJ’s estimates.
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Pic Reuters
‘Goal of a smear marketing campaign’
Sharif’s dying comes weeks after the Committee to Defend Journalists (CPJ), an unbiased non-profit, expressed “grave” issues about his security, and stated that he was “being targeted by an Israeli military smear campaign”.
Final month, he additionally stated he was residing with the “feeling that I could be bombed and martyred at any moment” as a result of his protection of Israel’s operations “harms them and damages their image in the world”.
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2:50
A ‘very chilling message’ to journalists inside Gaza
In a publish, labelled as Sharif’s “last will and testament”, the journalist wrote: “If these words of mine reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.”
The publish, which was printed after his dying, provides: “I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or misrepresentation, hoping that God would witness those who remained silent.”
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What has Israel stated?
The IDF stated on Sunday that it has intelligence and paperwork that show Sharif was a “Hamas operative”. The claims made no point out of the opposite journalists killed in Sunday’s strike.
In a press release it stated: “Hamas terrorist Anas Al-Sharif, who posed as an Al Jazeera journalist, was the head of a Hamas terrorist cell and advanced rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF troops.
“Intelligence and paperwork from Gaza, together with rosters, terrorist coaching lists and wage data, show he was a Hamas operative built-in into Al Jazeera.
“A press badge isn’t a shield for terrorism.”
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5:11
‘No credible proof to again Israeli declare towards journalist’
The claims usually are not new and have been first printed by the IDF in October 2024, when Sharif was named alongside 5 different Al Jazeera journalists. The IDF stated on the time it had discovered paperwork and laptop information proving all of the journalists had long-standing hyperlinks to Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
Final yr, Al Jazeera referred to as the claims “baseless fabrication” and continued to reject the assertion after Sharif’s dying on Sunday.
What has Al Jazeera stated?
Condemning the killing of 5 of its workers, Al Jazeera stated Israel’s actions are a “desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza”.
It referred to as on the worldwide neighborhood and all related organisations to “take decisive measures to halt this ongoing genocide and end the deliberate targeting of journalists”.
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6:24
‘Useless folks can’t defend themselves’
“We have always followed the highest security standards possible. But if a state and a complete army goes behind journalists because they are doing their jobs, there is not much that we can do,” he stated.
“Of course we are afraid, but we know the price that’s being paid in order to put a free word and independent coverage to the rest of the world.”
