Al Jazeera Media Network has condemned what it called a “targeted assassination” of five of its journalists in an Israeli airstrike near Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, marking one of the deadliest single attacks on media workers in the ongoing war.
The journalists, correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa were inside a tent designated for media professionals near the hospital’s main gate when the strike hit on August 10, the broadcaster reported.
A total of seven people were killed in the attack.
“This is yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom,” Al Jazeera said in a statement.
The Qatar-based network accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting the journalists to silence reporting from inside the besieged enclave.
Shortly after the airstrike, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed it had targeted al-Sharif, alleging in a Telegram post that he served as “the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas.”
The IDF did not mention the other four journalists who were killed.
Al Jazeera Response
Al Jazeera disputed the claim, saying al-Sharif was a credentialed journalist who had long reported from Gaza and was “the only voice” still documenting life under siege.
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Its managing editor, Mohamed Moawad, told the BBC that the journalists were not embedded with militants or on the front lines, but rather reporting from a clearly marked press area.
“They were targeted in their tent,” Moawad said. “The fact is that the Israeli government is wanting to silence the coverage of any channel reporting from inside Gaza. This is something that I haven’t seen before in modern history.”
Al Jazeera has continued to report from within Gaza throughout the nearly two-year conflict, despite international media being largely barred from entering the territory.
Local journalists have played a critical role in documenting conditions on the ground.
The Last Remaining Voices from Gaza
In a separate press statement, Al Jazeera said the journalists were among “the last remaining voices from within Gaza, providing the world with unfiltered, on-the-ground coverage of the devastating realities endured by its people.”
The network held the Israeli government fully responsible for the killings and called on the international community to act to protect journalists and hold those responsible accountable.
“These were deliberate assassinations, not casualties of war,” the statement read. “Anas and his colleagues died doing what so few dared — telling the world the truth.”
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The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders have both called for independent investigations into the strike, amid growing concerns over the increasing toll on media workers in the region.
Killing Journalists in Israeli Strikes
Since the war began in October 2023, dozens of Palestinian journalists have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to press freedom watchdogs.
Israel has defended its actions, claiming it targets militants and infrastructure used by Hamas.
But human rights organizations have repeatedly warned that the distinction between civilian and combatant has been blurred, and that journalists have come under fire in what may amount to violations of international law.
Al Jazeera said it would continue to broadcast from Gaza despite the mounting risks.
Despite losing several journalists to deliberate attacks and working under constant threat, Anas Al Sharif, Mohammed Qraiqea, and their colleagues persisted in the strip to ensure the world sees the harrowing truth experienced by Gaza’s populace.
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