In one of the deadliest single attacks on the press since the war began, an Israeli strike in Gaza has k!lled five Al Jazeera employees — including journalist Anas al Sharif, who had long feared he was marked for death.
Al Sharif died alongside colleagues Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had recently sounded the alarm over al Sharif’s safety, warning he was the subject of an Israeli military smear campaign.
The Israel Defence Forces confirmed the strike, accusing al Sharif of being a Hamas “terrorist” and cell leader involved in rocket attacks — claims Al Jazeera dismissed, calling the killings a “targeted assassination” and “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom.”
Al Sharif’s fears were well-documented. Just last month, he told viewers that his reporting “harms them and damages their image in the world” — and that he lived every day expecting to be k!lled. Since the outbreak of the conflict in 2023, at least 186 journalists and media workers have lost their lives in Gaza. Foreign reporters remain barred from entering for independent coverage.
Gaza’s Hamas-run government condemned the attack as “brutal and heinous,” accusing Israel of deliberately hitting journalists’ tents near al Shifa Hospital. Officials called it a “full-fledged war crime” aimed at “silencing the truth.”
Not long after his death, a message described as al Sharif’s “last will” appeared on X:
“If these words of mine reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. Don’t forget Gaza. Don’t forget me in your prayers.”
He was just 28. His father had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in December 2023, shortly after Israeli officers allegedly threatened him to stop reporting.
In May last year, Israel shut down Al Jazeera’s operations inside the country — and now, one of its most visible voices in Gaza has been silenced forever.
