Image Source: Agencies

Aug 11, 2025: Rights advocates said he had been targeted for his frontline reporting on the Gaza war, and Israel's claim lacked evidence. However, Israel's military claimed that an Al Jazeera journalist it accused of being a Hamas cell leader was killed in a Gaza airstrike on Sunday. A strike on a tent near Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City resulted in the deaths of four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant, including Anas Al Sharif, 28, Gaza officials and Al Jazeera reported. An official at the hospital said two other people were also killed in the strike.
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 Israeli military said in a statement that Al Sharif "was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF (Israeli) troops," citing intelligence and documents found in Gaza as evidence. Al Sharif was the head of a Hamas cell. The killings were condemned by journalists' organizations and Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera reported that Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, and Mohammed Noufal were the other journalists killed. Al Sharif's reporting from Gaza put his life in jeopardy, according to a UN expert and a press freedom group. Last month, UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan stated that Israel's allegations against him were unfounded. According to Al Jazeera, Al Sharif left a message on social media that would be posted in the event of his death and read, "... In the hope that God would witness those who remained silent, I never hesitated to convey the truth in its entirety, without deception or misrepresentation. Last October, Israel’s military had named Al Sharif as one of six Gaza journalists it alleged were members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, citing documents it said showed lists of people who completed training courses and salaries.
In a statement released at the time, the network stated, "Al Jazeera categorically rejects the Israeli occupation forces' portrayal of our journalists as terrorists and denounces their use of fabricated evidence." In a statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists, which in July urged the international community to protect Al Sharif, said Israel had failed to provide any evidence to back up its allegations against him.
Sara Qudah, CPJ's director for the Middle East and North Africa, stated, "Israel's pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom." Al Sharif, who had more than 5,000,000 followers on his X account, posted on the platform just before he died that Israel had been intensely bombarding Gaza City for more than two hours. The killing may signal the beginning of an Israeli offensive, according to the Gaza-ruling Palestinian militant organization Hamas. “The assassination of journalists and the intimidation of those who remain paves the way for a major crime that the occupation is planning to commit in Gaza City,” Hamas said in a statement.
After 22 months of war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that he will launch a new offensive to destroy Hamas strongholds in Gaza, where the hunger crisis is getting worse. According to Al Jazeera, "Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues were among the last voices in Gaza conveying the tragic reality to the world." According to the Gaza government media office run by Hamas, 237 journalists have been killed since October 7, 2023, when the war began. The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 186 journalists have been killed in the Gaza conflict.