Five Al Jazeera journalists have been confirmed dead in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza. Those among the dead include Anas al-Sharif, a prominent correspondent for the news organisation.
Israel has been widely condemned for the killing of the journalists in what has been described as a targeted attack in Gaza City, with Al Jazeera calling the killings a “desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza.”
Al-Sharif, 28, had been accused by Israel of leading a Hamas terror cell in Gaza, with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) confirming it had killed al-Sharif, describing him as a “terrorist” who “posed as a journalist” and who was involved in rocket attacks on Israel.
Seven people died in an attack outside al-Shifa Hospital on Sunday, including reporter Mohammed Qreiqeh and three camera operators, cameramen Ibrahim Zaher and Moamen Aliwa, and their assistant Mohammed Noufal, for the independent news organisation which is funded in part by the Qatari government, and is available worldwide in over 150 countries. Funerals have now been held for the five staff members.
In a statement, the IDF said: “Intelligence and documents from Gaza, including rosters, terrorist training lists and salary records, prove he was a Hamas operative integrated into Al Jazeera.
“A press badge isn’t a shield for terrorism,” the IDF adadded.
In a statement, Al Jazeera confirmed: “Al-Sharif, 28, was killed on Sunday after a tent for journalists outside the main gate of the hospital was hit. The well-known Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent reported extensively from northern Gaza.
As mourners gathered for the funeral of the journalists, it was reported by the AFP that a sixth reporter was also killed in the strike.Mohammed al-Khaldi who worked as a staff reporter, is understood to have been killed in strike that targeted the Al Jazeera team, according to the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya.
The bodies of the journalists were wrapped in white shrouds with their spaces exposed as they were carried to their graves, with some mourners dressed in blue journalists’ flak jackets.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement: “Israel’s pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom. Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable.”
Al Jazeera had rejected the assertion that al-Sharif was a terrorist, and before his death, Al Sharif had also rejected such claims by Israel.
He told the CPJ last month: “All of this is happening because my coverage of the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip harms them and damages their image in the world. They accuse me of being a terrorist because the occupation wants to assassinate me morally.”
The United Nations (UN) has also condemned the killing of the journalists as international outcry mounts. In a statement, the UN Human Rights Office said the killings were a “grave breach of international humanitarian law”.
“Israel must respect and protect all civilians, including journalists,” it said in a social media post, claiming that 242 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.
“We call for immediate, safe and unhindered access to Gaza for all journalists,” the office added.
On Monday it emerged that the Western Wall in Jerusalem had been vandalised with graffiti, which read: “There is a holocaust in Gaza” with the text written in Hebrew on the southern portion of the wall, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray.
Elsewhere in the city, a similar message appeared on the wall of the Great Synagogue, sparking condemnation from Jewish religious leaders and calls for the police to investigate the acts of “desecration.”