The Israeli military on Sunday killed five Al Jazeera journalists in an airstrike on a press tent in Gaza City, a strike that the network called “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom.”
Reporters Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, were in a designated media tent at the main gate of al-Shifa Hospital when the strike occurred. Al Jazeera described the incident as a “targeted assassination” that deliberately struck journalists away from the front lines.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it had targeted al-Sharif, claiming he was “the head of a Hamas terrorist cell” and alleging he had “advanced rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF troops.” The military also said it had Hamas documents showing al-Sharif was in one of the group’s units in 2019.
Press freedom organizations, United Nations experts, and human rights groups have dismissed such claims as part of a pattern of posthumous accusations used to justify journalist killings. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Israel had failed to provide credible evidence to support its assertions.
“Israel’s pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s regional director. “Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable.”
CPJ said last month it was “gravely worried” about al-Sharif’s safety after the IDF increased accusations against him following an on-air report in which he cried while covering starvation in Gaza. CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg told the BBC, “This is a pattern we’ve seen from Israel – not just in the current war, but in the decades preceding – in which typically a journalist will be killed by Israeli forces and then Israel will say after the fact that they are a terrorist, but provides very little evidence to back up those claims.”
Irene Khan, a UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, previously called the allegations against al-Sharif “an unsubstantiated claim” and “a blatant assault on journalists,” citing “growing evidence that journalists in Gaza have been targeted and killed by the Israeli army on the basis of unsubstantiated claims that they were Hamas terrorists.”
Al Jazeera’s managing editor, Mohamed Moawad, said the journalists “were targeted in their tent, they weren’t covering from the front line” and that “the Israeli government is wanting to silence the coverage of any channel of reporting from inside Gaza.” He told the BBC that al-Sharif was “the only voice” telling the world what was happening inside the territory.
Director of Al Jazeera English Salah Negm said the network knows “the background and training” of its journalists and “examines” their work through multiple sources, including BBC reporting.
Al Jazeera said the five slain journalists “boldly and courageously documented the plight of Gaza and its people since the onset of the war” and 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 said they delivered “searing eyewitness accounts of the horrors unleashed over 22 months of relentless bombing and destruction.”
Sharif, 28, appeared to be posting on X about heavy Israeli bombardment just before his death. A post published after his death appeared to have been pre-written and released by a friend. Verified videos from the aftermath show bodies being carried away, with colleagues identifying Sharif and Qreiqeh among the dead.
Initially, Al Jazeera reported four staff members had been killed, but revised the number to five hours later. In total, the strike killed seven people, including local freelance reporter Mohammad Al-Khaldi.
This is not the first time Al Jazeera journalists have been targeted. In August 2024, reporter Ismael Al-Ghoul was killed in an airstrike while in his car, along with cameraman Rami al-Rifi and a boy riding a bicycle. The IDF claimed al-Ghoul took part in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, a charge Al Jazeera rejected.
Since the start of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in October 2023, CPJ has confirmed the killing of at least 186 journalists, while the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate places the figure at 230. Many were working under siege conditions, facing both direct military attacks and the threat of starvation.
The foreign press remains barred from entering Gaza, leaving Palestinian journalists as the primary source of coverage. This has amplified the risks they face and, according to Amnesty International’s Mohamed Duar, made them targets for “preventing the documentation of genocide.” Duar said, “The courageous and brave journalists who have been reporting since the genocide began have been operating in the most dangerous conditions on Earth. At great risk to their lives, they have remained to show the world the war crimes being committed by Israel against almost two million Palestinian women, men, and children.”
The starvation crisis has further endangered journalists. Last month, the BBC and news agencies Reuters, AP, and AFP issued a joint statement expressing “desperate concern” for journalists unable to feed themselves and their families. BBC freelancers said they sometimes go days without food; one collapsed while filming. Over 100 aid and human rights groups have warned of mass starvation in Gaza, while Israel has accused them of “serving the propaganda of Hamas.”
Israel’s military campaign began after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, which killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since the offensive began, the majority of them women and children.
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