The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has killed five Al Jazeera journalists, in an Israeli strike in Gaza on Sunday night, while one of them is a prominent voice for the news channel and has been reporting from inside the city since the crisis began in October 2023.
Penpushing reports that the victims who are correspondents include Anas al-Sharif, who was targeted in an air raid on a tent at Al-Shifa hospital’s main gate alongside his colleagues —Mohammed Qreiqeh and three camera operators, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF), shortly after the attack, claimed responsibility for it, describing Al-Sharif as a member of a Hamas terrorist organisation who posed as a journalist for Al Jazeera.
Penpushing further reports that the Israel Military citing intelligence and documents found in Gaza as evidence, in a statement claimed that Anas al-Sharif served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organisation and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and Israel Defence Forces (IDF) troops.
The Al Jazeera’s managing editor, Mohamed Moawad, however, explained that Al-Sharif, an accredited journalist, was the only voice for the world to know what was happening in the Gaza Strip.
‘They were targeted in their tent; they weren’t covering from the front line. The fact is that the Israeli government wants to silence the coverage of any channel of reporting from inside Gaza. This is something that I haven’t seen before in modern history,” he added.
Penpushing also report that since the war started, Israel has barred international journalists from freely entering Gaza, and so many news outlets depend on local reporters there for coverage.
The killing of Al Jazeera correspondents now add to the toll of journalists who have died as a result of the attack on Gaza in the last 22 months, just as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) put the number of journalists killed in Gaza since 2023 at 186
Penpushing reports that the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had repeatedly called for the international protection of Al-Sharif before the attack, warning that the 28-year-old journalist was at risk of being killed by Israel because he was a key source of news from Gaza for international audiences since the war began more than 650 days ago.
The Al Jazeera Media Network in July raised an alarm about what it described as a relentless effort by the Israrel Defence Forces (IDF) to campaign against its correspondents and journalists in Gaza.
Penpushing further reports that the Network considers this incitement a dangerous attempt to justify the targeting of its journalists in the field, however, following his death a statement, which appears to have been pre-written, by Al-Sharif was published on his X account on his behalf.
“This is my last will and testament. If these words of mine reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. Do not forget Gaza… And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance’, the statement reads
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