Five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Sunday, the network said, with the Israel Defense Forces claiming one was a Hamas leader posing as a journalist.
The network said that Anas al-Sharif; another journalist, Mohammed Qreiqeh; and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa were killed.
The network reported that they died “in a targeted Israeli strike on a tent housing journalists in Gaza City.” The Al Jazeera Media Network said in a statement that the killings were a “targeted assassination.”
Al-Sharif and the other journalists were stationed opposite the Al-Shifa Hospital complex when they were killed, the statement said.
The Israel Defense Forces claimed 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.”
The IDF said in a statement about the killing 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.
Al Jazeera reported Sunday that al-Sharif was a well-known Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who reported extensively from northern Gaza.
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.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said that Israel has a longstanding practice of accusing journalists of being terrorists without providing credible evidence.
It called al-Sharif one of Al Jazeera’s best-known journalists, who has recently been reporting on starvation in Gaza to a lack of aid allowed in the territory.
“Israel’s pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah said in a statement. “Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable.”
After an IDF spokesperson accused al-Sharif of being affiliated with Hamas’ military wing in July, al-Sharif told the CPJ that he was being retaliated against for news coverage that made Israel look bad.
“All of this is happening because my coverage of the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip harms them and damages their image in the world. They accuse me of being a terrorist because the occupation wants to assassinate me morally,” al-Sharif told the CPJ then.
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.
Israel’s government has also accused the network of biased coverage of conflicts and violence involving itself and the Palestinian territories.
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 Palestinian Ministry of Health in the enclave.
Israel last week said that it will take control of Gaza City, an escalation of the war. The move was criticized, and Germany announced that it is suspending the export to Israel of military equipment that could be used in Gaza.