SRINAGAR: At least five journalists, most affiliated with Al Jazeera, were killed late Sunday when an Israeli airstrike struck a tent known to house media personnel near the main entrance of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The Israeli military confirmed it targeted one journalist, alleging that he was a senior Hamas member—an accusation denied by media organisations and human rights monitors.
According to Al Jazeera, their correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh died in the strike, alongside camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa, and Mohammed Noufal. Local authorities stated the tent was clearly identified as a press zone, and at least seven people died in total, including the five journalists.
Shortly after the attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated on social media, “STRUCK: Hamas terrorist Anas Al-Sharif, who posed as an Al Jazeera journalist. Al-Sharif was the head of a Hamas terrorist cell and advanced rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF troops.” The military claimed to have “intelligence and documents from Gaza” allegedly proving al-Sharif’s dual role as a militant and journalist.
Al Jazeera and global press freedom groups rejected Israel’s assertions, characterising the attack as a deliberate effort to silence media coverage from Gaza. The BBC reported Al Jazeera’s condemnation of what it labelled an ongoing “campaign of incitement” by the Israeli military targeting its journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) noted a pattern of “Israel labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence” and called for full accountability in the incident.
The New York Times quoted a health official at Al-Shifa Hospital as confirming the deadly strike on the journalists’ tent, which also left at least eight people injured. The Gaza government’s media office called the deaths a “premeditated assassination”, while Al Jazeera described it as a “desperate attempt to silence voices ahead of the occupation of Gaza”.
Both Al Jazeera and CPJ highlighted that nearly 200 journalists—most of them Palestinian—have been killed in Israeli military operations since October 2023. Israel continues to block foreign media access to the Gaza Strip.
