Israel kills five al Jazeera journalists in attack directed in Gaza

Israel killed five al Jazeera journalists on an air strike directed on Sunday night against a press tent set up at the entrance of Al-Shifa Hospital in the city of Gaza.

Among the victims are the correspondent Anas Al-Sharif, 28, correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. In total, seven people died in bombing.

Al-Sharif was one of the station’s best-known reporters, with wide coverage from the north of Gaza (territory most massacred by the Israelis). Shortly before he died, Al-Sharif published in X that there was “intense and concentrated bombing” about Gaza, accompanied by images of the attack.

In a message left in April to be released in case of his death, he said he never hesitated to “convey the truth as it is” and denounced indifference to the massacre to which Palestinians have been subjected for over a year and a half. He also regretted leaving his wife, Bayan, and children Salah and Sham.

“I lived the pain in all its details and tasted the mourning and the loss repeatedly.

Nevertheless, I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or misrepresentation, in the hope that God would witness those who remained silent, those who accepted our murder, and those who suffocated our own breathing.

Not even the mutilated bodies of our children and women moved their hearts or interrupted the massacre to which our people have been subjected for over a year and a half, ”wrote Al-Sharif.

Al Jazeera has classified deaths as “another flagrant and premeditated press attack” and denounced a “desperate” attempt to silence voices that expose the “imminent take and occupation of Gaza.”

The network has charged the action of the international community to stop the “ongoing genocide” and hold the authors responsible.

The Palestinian journalists union called the attack on a “bloody crime”. Reporters Without Borders stated that it was “horrified” with the deaths and stated that the Israeli standard to label journalists as militants without presenting credible evidence, “raises serious doubts” about Israel’s respect for press freedom.

After assuming the attack, Israel accused Al-Sharif of leading a Hamas cell and promised to present “unmistakable evidence” that were never shown to the public. It is a recurring cynicism: the Israeli government has been using unlucky accusations to try to discredit Palestinian journalists who expose the crimes committed in Gaza. Analysts and human rights entities reiterate that there is no evidence that the reporter has participated in any hostility.

Since October 2023, more than 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza, which is the most lethal conflict for the press in decades.