A well-known Jazeera journalist was killed in an Israeli attack in Gaza, along with four colleagues / nearly 200 journalists since the beginning of the conflict
Israel accused Anas Al-Sharif of being a Hamas member, a thing rejected by the organizations for the defense of journalists. At least 186 journalists were killed in the conflict in Gaza, according to the statistics of the Journal protection Committee, I write Reuters and AFP.
A Jazeera's journalist, who had previously been threatened by Israel, was killed with four colleagues in an airspace of the Israeli army.
Anas Al-Sharif, one of Jazeera's best-known journalists, was killed on Sunday evening while in a tent for journalists, outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
In total, seven people were killed in the attack, including Al-Sharif, the correspondent of Jazeera Mohammed Qreqeh and the cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, according to the television station based in Qatar.
Israel's accusations, Jazeera's response
The Israeli defense forces (IDF) claimed the attack, claiming that the reporter “was the leader of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organization and was responsible for launching rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF forces.”
The army claimed that it has evidence in the form of information and documents found in Gaza, but the human rights organizations have stated that the journalist was the target of his attack due to his reports on the Gaza War Front and that Israel's statement is not supported by evidence.
Jazeera's television said that Al-Sharif was “one of the bravest journalists in Gaza” and said that the attack is “a desperate attempt to silence the voices in anticipation of the Gaza.”
Last month, IDF spokesman Avichai Adraee distributed a video with Al-Sharif on X and accused the journalist of being a member of the Hamas military wing.
At that time, the UN special rapporteur for freedom of expression, Irene Khan, qualified the accusation as “unfounded” and “a flagrant attack on journalists”.
“Those responsible for these crimes must be held accountable”
In July, Al-Sharif told the Committee for Protection of Journalists (CPJ) that he lived with “the feeling that he could be attacked and killed at any time.”
CPJ reacted with “dismay” after the attack.
“The custom of Israel to label journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious question marks and respect for the freedom of the press,” said Sara Qudah, the regional director of the CPJ.
“Journalists are civilians and should never be the target of the attacks. Those responsible for these crimes must be held accountable,” she added.
The Union of Palestinian journalists also condemned what he described as a “bloody crime”.
Al-Sharif's last message
In January this year, after the cessation of fire between Hamas and Israel, Al-Sharif drew the general attention when, during a live broadcast, he removed his antiglon vest as he was surrounded by dozens of inhabitants of Gaza who celebrated the temporary termination of hostilities.
A few minutes before his death, Al-Sharif posted on X: “Last hour: an intense and concentrated Israeli bombing, using” fire belts “, hits the eastern and southern areas of Gaza.”
In a final message, which Al Jazeera said was written on April 6 and who was posted on Al-Sharif's account on X after his death, the reporter said that “he lived in all his details, tasted suffering and loss many times, but he never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion.”
“Allah can be a witness against those who were silent, of those who have accepted our killing, those who suffocated our breath and whose hearts have remained careless in the face of the scattered remains of our children and women, without doing anything to stop the massacre with which our people are facing a year,”
Al-Sharif, 28, was married and had two young children. His father was killed in an Israeli attack on the family's home in the Jaban refugee camp in the city of Gaza, in December 2023.
At that time, Al-Sharif said he would continue to relate and refused to leave the northern gase.
Nearly 200 journalists killed in Gaza
Israel killed several Jazeera journalists and members of their families. Among them: Hossam Shabat, killed in March, and Ismail al-guoul and his cameraman Rami Al-Rifi, killed in August.
The wife, son, daughter and nephew of the Chief Correspondent Wael of Dahdouh were killed in October 2023, and he himself was injured in an attack that took place a few weeks later and killed the cameraman Al Jazeera Samer Abu Daqqa.
Israel, which does not allow the access of foreign journalists to Gaza and who has taken the local reporters, is accused of killing 237 journalists since the beginning of the war, on October 7, 2023, according to the Gaza Government Press Office.
The Committee for the Protection of Journalists said that at least 186 journalists were killed in the conflict in Gaza. Israel denies that he would deliberately have deliberately taken the journalists.
