In what the network terms a targeted Israeli strike on a tent housing journalists in Gaza City, Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Shariff and four other coworkers perished.
AlSharif said in a farewell letter written on April 6 to be made public in the event of his death that he had suffered “pain in all its specifics” and swore to provide “the truth as it is” despite repeated personal tragedy. He said he felt he felt sadness at leaving behind his wife, Bayan, and missed the chance to witness his children,, Salah and Sham,, grow up.
Amid Israel’s continuous attack on Gaza, Al Jazeera denounced the murder as a “premeditated attack on press independence” and a “desperate attempt to silence the voices” covering civilian suffering, famine, and mass displacement. The network urged the international community to act to stop what it called the “ongoing genocide” and the “deliberate targeting of journalists.”
Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud, close to the strike, claimed the journalists were murdered for revealing the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Israel’s military said it had “unequivocal proof” of al-Sharif’s connection to a Hamas cell engaged in rocket strikes. Rights organizations and peers refute this, claiming no proof he engaged in conflict exists. Muhammed Shehada of the EuroMed Human Rights Monitor claimed al-Sharif’s daily schedule involved “standing in front of a camera from morning to evening.”
Earlier, Irene Khan, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, had warned that Israeli threats and allegations against al-Sharif might result in his murder based on rising evidence of targeted journalists in Gaza based on unproven allegations.
Al Jazeera has condemned what it describes as a “campaign of incitement” against its journalists and charged Israel with creating evidence to connect them to Hamas. Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists also said al-Sharif was under an “Israeli military smear campaign.”
More than 200 journalists and media employees have died since Israel started its Gaza campaign in October 2023, including several from Al Jazeera and their family members.
