Five Al Jazeera journalists — including prominent correspondent Anas al-Sharif — were killed Sunday when an Israeli airstrike hit a journalists’ tent in Gaza City. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the strike, alleging al-Sharif was a Hamas operative leading a rocket-firing cell while posing as a reporter. They cited intelligence documents as proof, stating, “A press badge isn’t a shield for terrorism,” and accused Al Jazeera of embedding militants in its teams.
Al Jazeera condemned the attack as a “targeted assassination” to silence independent reporting from Gaza, where foreign media entry is heavily restricted. The victims — al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa — had been sheltering near Al-Shifa Medical Complex, a long-time media base.
Press freedom groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, demanded an independent investigation, warning that branding reporters as militants without public evidence undermines press safety. More than 200 journalists have died since the war began nearly two years ago.
The killings deepen tensions between Israel and Al Jazeera, which Israel has banned and accused of bias. Gaza’s media vacuum — worsened by the deaths of veteran local reporters — leaves global audiences reliant on official accounts.
The strike comes as Prime Minister Netanyahu defends expanding military operations, despite UN warnings of worsening famine and displacement. Gaza’s health ministry reports over 61,000 Palestinian deaths, half of them women and children, with aid severely constrained.
Rights groups and Palestinian officials are urging war-crimes investigations, warning that without journalists like al-Sharif, the war’s realities will remain largely unseen.
