Gaza: Prominent Al Jazeera journalists killed by Israel

In the late hours of August 10th, Israeli forces killed two prominent Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, according to Middle East Eye.

Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qraiqea and three others were killed when Israel attacked a tent for media workers in Gaza City.

Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qraiqea, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Mosaab Al Sharif, along with two other unarmed Palestinian civilians were all killed by Israel.

Sharif had posted on X shortly before his killing, the video captured deafening booms close to where Anas Al-Sharif was staying as Israel launched “intense” missile bombardments on Gaza City’s eastern and southern areas.

Later, the Israeli military claimed without evidence that 28-year-old Sharif was murdered because he “served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organisation.”

Sharif and Qraiqea were both extremely well-known for their coverage of attacks launched by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

On X, Middle East Eye released footage showing the moments after the tent was bombed by Israel. It shows the tragic aftermath of where the Al Jazeera correspondents and their crew were bombed by Israel.

Fellow media workers in PRESS vests can be seen running towards the tent, attempting to carry a body partially on fire away from the horrific scene.

The deaths of the Palestinian journalists, along with photojournalists and cameramen Mohammed Noufal, Mosaab Al Sharif and Ibrahim Zaher, form part of a pattern of behaviour from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Since Israel launched its destructive war on the enclave in October 2023, it has routinely accused Palestinian journalists in Gaza of being Hamas members – which rights groups say is an effort to discredit reporting of Israeli abuses.

Al Jazeera responded to the attack that killed some of the final remaining correspondents inside Gaza in a statement, which said: “[Anas Al-Sharif was] One of the bravest journalists.” It also described the attack as being “a desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza.”

The statement continued: ”Anas and his colleagues 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.”

It also said: “While international media was barred from entering, Al Jazeera journalists remained within besieged Gaza, experiencing the hunger and suffering they documented through their lenses. Through continuous, courageous live coverage, they have delivered searing eyewitness accounts of the horrors unleashed over 22 months of relentless bombing and destruction.”

Reportedly, Hani Mahmoud, another Al Jazeera journalist in Gaza, referred to the killing as “perhaps the hardest thing I’m reporting about the past 22 months.”

“I’m not far from al-Shifa hospital, just one block away, and I could hear the massive explosion that took place in the past half an hour or so, near al-Shifa hospital. I could see it when it lit up the sky and, within moments, the news circulated that it was the journalist camp at the main gate of the al-Shifa hospital,” he added.

Israel’s army spokesperson Avichai Adraee previously shared a video on X threatening Sharif in a message that has now been extensively denounced for openly targeting a journalist.

Sharif, speaking to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in July, said he goes through life with the “feeling that I could be bombed and martyred at any moment.” The Chief Executive of the CPJ Jodie Ginsberg spoke to Al Jazeera about how the assassination fit the longstanding pattern of Israel’s killing of journalists.

“This is not just about Anas al-Sharif, it is part of a decades-long practice in which Israel kills journalists,” she explained.

The killing en masse of journalists is not the only weapon of war Israel has employed in Gaza, with starvation and the denial of basic supplies leading to the deaths of countless innocents, and forcing Palestinians to resort to desperate measures. Palestinian Journalists in Gaza are also subjected to harsh conditions, with media organisations panicking about their colleagues’ safety. Over 200 journalists have reportedly now been killed in Gaza.

The horrific situation in Gaza has not been hidden from the world, with an unending reel of footage, photos and news running continuously on social media, causing doctors and everyday people around the world and in the region to rise up in anger, as pressure mounts on governments everywhere to stop the conflict.

After the death of Sharif, a post was shared from his X account written on April 6th, acting as his final message. The reporter said he had “lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification.”

He also said: “Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women, doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half.”

Sharif’s death comes over a year after Israel bombed his family home in a refugee camp and killed his father.

Previously, on the night of August 7th going into August 8th, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approved a plan to occupy the Gaza Strip. The operation would seize Gaza City and actively displace almost one million Palestinians who call it home.

Although many might be skeptical about the ultimate goal of Israel for the enclave and its people, its intentions have now become entirely unmistakeable: While Israel formally referred to this as a “takeover,” Israeli media reported the term “occupy” was avoided to deter legal responsibilities under international law. 

Middle East Eye, Al Jazeera, Maghrebi.org