Israeli Strike That Killed 5 Journalists was a Targeted Attack!

An Israeli airstrike targeted a tent housing journalists outside Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, killing Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif, 28, and Mohamed Qreiqeh, 33, along with three other journalists—Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa—and two others, according to hospital administrative director Rami Mohanna. The attack, which also damaged the hospital’s emergency building entrance, has intensified fears for the safety of media workers in the region.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the strike, claiming al-Sharif was a Hamas cell leader involved in rocket attacks, an accusation Al Jazeera and al-Sharif had previously rejected as baseless. The IDF alleged that intelligence, including documents like personnel rosters and salary records, proved al-Sharif’s ties to Hamas, stating, “A press badge isn’t a shield for terrorism.” Al Jazeera condemned the strike as a “targeted assassination,” linking it to a campaign of incitement against its reporters, including a July 24 video by IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee accusing al-Sharif of Hamas affiliation.

Al Jazeera emphasized that its journalists, among the few still reporting from Gaza, provided critical, unfiltered coverage of the war’s toll, including airstrikes, hunger, and destruction. “Anas and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices from within Gaza,” the network stated. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that at least 186 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, 2023, calling it the deadliest conflict for reporters in modern times.

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Al-Sharif, who began reporting for Al Jazeera shortly after the war’s onset, was known for documenting Israel’s bombardment of northern Gaza and the starvation crisis gripping the region. In a July broadcast, he broke down on air as a woman collapsed from hunger behind him, saying, “I am talking about slow death of those people.” Minutes before his death, al-Sharif posted on X about intense bombardment in Gaza City, with his final video capturing explosions. A posthumous post, prepared in case of his death, read, “I never hesitated for a single day to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification,” bidding farewell to his wife and two children.

The CPJ and UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression Irene Khan had warned of a smear campaign against al-Sharif, with Khan stating on July 31 that such actions were part of a strategy to “suppress the truth” and obstruct accountability. Ahed Ferwana of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate called the killings deliberate, urging international action.

Hundreds mourned the journalists at Shifa Hospital, where their bodies were laid out in white sheets. Al Jazeera, blocked in Israel and raided in the West Bank in 2024, has lost multiple reporters in the conflict, including Ismail al-Ghoul, Rami al-Rifi, and Hossam Shabat. The incident, condemned by Hamas as a “brutal and heinous” war crime, has renewed calls for protecting journalists in Gaza, where international media access is heavily restricted.

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