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Five journalists working with Al Jazeera were killed in an Israeli airstrike near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
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The IDF confirmed it targeted one journalist, alleging ties to Hamas, but offered no evidence for the remaining victims.
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Al Jazeera accused Israel of attempting to suppress media coverage and described the killings as deliberate.
The ongoing conflict in Gaza has taken another grim turn as five Al Jazeera journalists were confirmed dead following an Israeli airstrike near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Sunday.
According to reports retrieved by Eko Hot Blog from the network, the journalists were inside a designated media tent at the hospital’s main gate when the location came under heavy bombardment. The casualties include correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, as well as cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa.
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The Qatar-based media organisation described the incident as a “targeted and deliberate attack” aimed at silencing the flow of information from the embattled territory. Initially, four staff members were reported dead, but the number was later updated to five.
In a statement, Al Jazeera said the journalists were not at a combat zone but were reporting from a neutral media post, and accused the Israeli military of violating international law by deliberately attacking press workers.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), while confirming the airstrike, claimed that one of the victims, Anas al-Sharif, was involved with a Hamas cell, alleging he played a role in facilitating rocket attacks on Israeli targets. The IDF did not acknowledge or name the other journalists who lost their lives in the same strike.
According to the broadcaster, al-Sharif had been actively reporting from within Gaza throughout the conflict and was one of the few journalists remaining in the city. Moments before his death, he reportedly shared updates on intensified shelling in Gaza City on social media.
Following the incident, videos showing the aftermath circulated online, with some media personnel and first responders seen identifying the bodies of their colleagues. These recordings were later verified by international monitoring groups.
Al Jazeera’s managing editor, speaking on international media, stated that the journalists were not operating near any military position, and accused Israel of trying to suppress ground-level reporting from Gaza, especially as foreign correspondents have been barred from freely entering the territory since the war began.
He described the killings as unprecedented, stating that such systematic targeting of media workers undermines the fundamental principle of press freedom.
Israel, however, insists that al-Sharif was not a legitimate journalist, but rather a militant operating under the guise of journalism. The military claimed to have intelligence suggesting his direct links to armed operations, including participation in weapons training.
Critics, however, argue that these posthumous accusations lack transparency. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a global press watchdog, said that the IDF has failed to present verifiable proof for its claims. The CPJ had previously raised an alarm in July, warning that al-Sharif’s life was at risk and urging Israel to protect journalists in line with international norms.
“It is part of a disturbing pattern, where journalists are killed and then labelled militants with no substantial evidence,” CPJ’s executive director remarked.
This incident comes months after another Al Jazeera staffer, Ismael Al-Ghoul, was killed in a similar airstrike while inside his vehicle. The IDF had also accused him of involvement in the October 7 attacks, a claim the media house firmly denied.
Since October 2023, when Israel launched a massive offensive on Gaza in response to a deadly Hamas-led assault, more than 186 journalists have reportedly lost their lives, making it one of the deadliest periods for press personnel in recent history.
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