One of Gaza's most prominent journalists was killed along with four others in a targeted Israeli airstrike on Sunday, the network said.
Anas al-Sharif's death has been condemned by the United Nations, rights organizations and journalism advocacy groups, one of which warned last month that he was being targeted with a smear campaign by the Israeli military after he cried on air over starvation in Gaza.
Qatari-owned pan-Arab Al Jazeera reported that al-Sharif; another journalist, Mohammed Qreiqeh; and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa were killed “in a targeted Israeli strike on a tent housing journalists in Gaza City.”
In a separate statement, the Al Jazeera Media Network said al-Sharif and his colleagues were stationed opposite the Al-Shifa Hospital complex.
Calling it “another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom” by Israel, the statement said it was “a desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza.” It added that it held both Israel’s military and government “responsible for deliberately targeting and assassinating its journalists.”
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that al-Sharif was “the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organization and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.”
It added that it had “previously disclosed intelligence information and many documents found in the Gaza Strip” that it said confirm that al-Sharif was a member of Hamas.
On Monday, the Israeli military did not respond to NBC News’ request for evidence that he was a terrorist.
Both al-Sharif and Al Jazeera have previously denied accusations that he was a terrorist.
In October 2024, the IDF shared a photo on X of al-Sharif and five other Al Jazeera journalists it claimed were “Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.” The Al Jazeera Media Network called the claims “baseless” and “fabricated accusations.”
“Al Jazeera fear these allegations may serve as a pretext for further violence against the journalists, mirroring the tragic fates of other media professionals targeted and killed by Israeli occupation forces,” the media network said at the time.
In a July 24 video, Israel’s army spokesperson Avichay Adraee attacked Al Jazeera and accused al-Sharif of being part of Hamas’ military wing, The Associated Press reported.
This prompted the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists to warn that it was “gravely worried” about al-Sharif. In a statement it said he was “being targeted by an Israeli military smear campaign, which he believes is a precursor to his assassination.”
Condemning the death of al-Sharif and his colleagues on Monday, CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah, accused Israel of "murdering the messengers," adding that it "made no claims that any of the other journalists were terrorists. That’s murder. Plain and simple.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists says that at least 186 journalists have been killed in the conflict since the start of the war.
In a separate statement the Foreign Press Association also said it was "outraged."
The U.N. human rights office also called a "grave breach of international humanitarian law,” while Philippe Lazzarini of the United Nations refugees agency said he was "horrified" by their deaths.
Al Jazeera, a network funded by Qatar’s government, said that 10 of its staff have been killed by Israel since Israel launched the war in Gaza in 2023.
Among the dead was 27-year-old correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi, who were killed last summer. Freelancer Hossam Shabat was killed in an Israeli airstrike in March.
Like al-Sharif, Shabat was among the six that Israel accused of being members of militant groups last October.
Blocked in Israel, the country's forces raided Al Jazeera's offices in the occupied West Bank last year, ordering them closed.
And in May 2024, Israel’s government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted to shut down the channel’s local offices. Netanyahu at the time called it an incitement channel.
Al Jazeera has repeatedly denied the allegations of incitement made by Israel.
Israel launched the offensive in Gaza, targeting Hamas, after the Hamas-led terror attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 251 people were taken hostage. Many of the targets of those attacks were civilians, including people attending a music festival.
Over 61,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the offensive began, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.
