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Anas al-Sharif among five Al Jazeera journalists killed by Israel in Gaza | News

Al Jazeera staff killed in targeted Israeli attack on a tent housing journalists near al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza City.

Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif has been killed alongside four colleagues in a targeted Israeli attack on a tent housing journalists in Gaza City.

Seven people were killed in the attack on the tent located outside the main gate of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital late on Sunday evening, including Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa.

Shortly before being killed, al-Sharif, a well-known 28-year-old Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who had reportedly extensively from northern Gaza, wrote on X that Israel had launched intense, concentrated bombardment – also known as “fire belts” – on the eastern and southern parts of Gaza City.

In his last video, the loud booms of Israel’s intensive missile bombing can be heard in the background as the dark sky is lit in a flash of orange light.

Translation: Non-stop bombing … For the past two hours, the Israeli aggression on Gaza City has intensified.

In a statement announcing the killing of al-Sharif, Israel’s military accused the journalist of heading a Hamas cell and of “advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and [Israeli] troops” and alleged it possessed documents providing “unequivocal proof” of his involvement with the Palestinian group.

Muhammed Shehada, an analyst at the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, said there was “zero evidence” that al-Sharif took part in any hostilities. “His entire daily routine was standing in front of a camera from morning to evening,” he told Al Jazeera.

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The Al Jazeera Media Network had recently denounced the Israeli military for what it called a “campaign of incitement” against its reporters in the Gaza Strip, including most notably al-Sharif.

In July, Israeli army spokesperson Avichai Adraee reshared a video on social media accusing al-Sharif of being a member of Hamas’s military wing – a claim that has been forcefully rejected as false.

The Committee to Protect Journalists last month said it was gravely concerned for al-Sharif’s safety and said he was a “targeted by an Israeli military smear campaign.”

Israel has routinely accused Palestinian journalists in Gaza of being members of Hamas since it launched its war on the enclave in October 2023 as part of what rights groups say is an effort to discredit their reporting on Israeli abuses.

The Israeli military has killed more than 200 reporters and media workers since its bombardment began, including several Al Jazeera journalists and their relatives.




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