GAZA: Five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in an Israeli airstrike near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, according to the broadcaster.
Reporters Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, along with cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, were reportedly inside a media tent at the hospital’s main gate when the strike occurred, BBC reported.
Al Jazeera condemned the incident as a “targeted assassination” and described it as a deliberate attack on press freedom. The network later updated its casualty count from four to five staff members killed in the attack, which claimed a total of seven lives.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed targeting al-Sharif, claiming he was a Hamas operative and led a terrorist cell. However, the IDF did not address the deaths of the other journalists. It alleged that al-Sharif was involved in planning rocket attacks and had received military training, citing prior intelligence.
Al Jazeera refuted the IDF’s claims, stating al-Sharif was a credentialed journalist and a vital source of information from Gaza, especially amid restrictions on international media access to the area during the ongoing conflict. Managing Editor Mohamed Moawad described the strike as a deliberate effort to silence reporting from inside Gaza.
Graphic videos from the aftermath, verified by BBC Verify, show bodies being retrieved, with some individuals identifying the journalists. A final post made on al-Sharif’s social media account appeared to have been scheduled by a friend, following his death.
Al Jazeera, the United Nations, and the Committee to Protect Journalists had previously called for al-Sharif’s protection. The broadcaster has also criticized what it calls ongoing incitement against its journalists by the Israeli military.
According to the CPJ, at least 186 journalists have been killed since the start of Israel’s military operations in Gaza in October 2023.
(Inputs from BBC)
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