Four Al Jazeera Journalists Among Seven Killed in Gaza Airstrike
An Israeli airstrike near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City killed seven people, including four journalists and an assistant from Al Jazeera. Israel's military claimed one of the journalists, Anas Al Sharif, was a Hamas cell leader, an allegation press freedom groups and Al Jazeera reject as unsubstantiated. The killings have been condemned as an attempt to silence reporting from the conflict zone, with the Hamas-run media office stating that 237 journalists have been killed since the war began.
Unpacked:
The IDF said it recovered documents in Gaza—training records, personnel lists, and salary details—purporting to show Al Sharif’s Hamas affiliation, and claimed precision targeting based on intelligence minimized civilian harm. Al Jazeera and press freedom groups reject these as unsubstantiated and accuse Israel of justifying journalist killings.
Al Jazeera and advocacy groups rejected the IDF’s claims as unproven and warned of a pattern of targeting journalists; the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression called the earlier accusation against Al Sharif “unsubstantiated” and “a blatant assault on journalists.”
The Hamas-run media office cited 237 journalist deaths; independent tallies have previously exceeded 160 and continued to rise, with Gaza described as the deadliest place for journalists in modern history. Numbers vary by methodology and verification, but multiple trackers document unusually high journalist fatalities.
Al Sharif, 28, was a prominent Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent from Jabalia who reported extensively from northern Gaza, remaining despite personal losses and repeated threats. He became one of the most recognizable frontline reporters documenting bombardments and conditions around Shifa Hospital and elsewhere.