• The dead include Anas Al Sharif, who had received several threats from Israel
• TV channel says the killing was a ‘desperate attempt to silence voices in Gaza’

CAIRO: A prominent Al Jazeera journalist, who had previously been threatened by Israel, was killed along with four colleagues in an Israeli air strike on Sunday in an attack condemned by journalists and rights groups.

Israel’s military said it targeted and killed Anas Al Sharif, alleging he had headed a Hamas cell and was involved in rocket attacks on Israel.

Al Jazeera, which is funded by the Qatari government, rejected the assertion, and before his death Al Sharif had also denied such claims by Israel.

“Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices in Gaza conveying the tragic reality to the world,” Al Jazeera said.

Al Sharif, 28, was among a group of four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant who died in an air strike on a tent near Al Shifa Hospital, in eastern Gaza City. A hospital official said two other people died as well.

A sixth journalist, freelance reporter Mohammad Al Khaldi, was also killed in the strike, medics at Al Shifa Hospital said on Monday.

Calling Al Sharif “one of Gaza’s bravest journalists”, Al Jazeera said the attack was a “desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza”.

The other journalists killed were Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal.

“The deliberate targeting of journalists by Israel in the Gaza Strip reveals how these crimes are beyond imagination,” Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said on X.

The UN human rights office condemned the killings, saying the actions by Israel’s military represented a “grave breach of international humanitarian law” as Palestinians reported the heaviest bombardment in weeks.

Its post on social media platform X was accompanied by a photograph of flattened blue tents next to a bullet-ridden wall in Gaza City.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is “gravely concerned” about the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza, his spokesperson said.

People gathered at Sheikh Radwan Cem­e­tery, in the heart of Gaza Strip, on Monday to mourn the journalists. Friends, colleagues and relatives consoled each other, many wiping away tears as they bade farewell.

Deadliest conflict for journalists

According to the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs Costs of War project, the conflict in Gaza is the deadliest on record for journalists, A total of 238 journalists have been killed since Oct 2023.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said 186 journalists have been killed in the Gaza conflict.

A press freedom group and a United Nations expert had previously warned that Al Sharif’s life was in danger due to his reporting from Gaza.

Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur, said last month that Israel’s claims against him were unsubstantiated.

Pre-recorded message

Al Jazeera said Al Sharif had left a social media message to be posted in the event of his death that read “I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or misrepresentation, hoping that God would witness those who remained silent”.

Israel’s military had named Al Sharif in October as one of six Gaza journalists it alleged were “members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad”.

“Al Jazeera categorically rejects the Israeli occupation forces portrayal of our journalists as terrorists and denounces their use of fabricated evidence,” the network said in a statement.

PFUJ deplores killing

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journ­alists (PFUJ) condemned the targeted strike on Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza.

In a joint statement, PFUJ President Afzal Butt and Secretary General Arshad Ansari said this was not the first time that Israeli forces had targeted journalists.

“The Israeli government’s sense of impunity emboldens its forces to target innocent civilians, including journalists performing their duties in conflict zones,” the statement said.

The PFUJ noted that 186 journalists and media workers had been killed so far during Israeli attacks.

The union urged the international community to exert pressure on Tel Aviv to end the targeting of civilians and media professionals. “Had the international community acted earlier on the killings of journalists and the bombing of media offices, such tragedies might have been prevented,” the statement added.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2025