International media outlets are giving extensive coverage to the killing of Anas al-Sharif, a senior Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza, in an Israeli airstrike near Al-Shifa Hospital. Headlines on Monday in major outlets, including Sky News, CNN, BBC, NBC, The Washington Post, The Guardian and The New York Times, described the incident as “Israel kills journalists in targeted attack.”
Sky News devoted its lead story to “Al Jazeera condemns 'assassination' of its journalists in Gaza,” citing the Committee to Protect Journalists, which says at least 186 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war in the enclave. The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate claims the toll since October 7 numbered 238.
Al-Sharif covering release of Israeli hostage Agam Berger
According to the reports, al-Sharif was killed alongside another Al Jazeera reporter and two photographers in the strike. Al Jazeera accused Israel of a “targeted assassination” and called the attack “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom.”
The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, affiliated with Hezbollah, ran the headline: “Al Jazeera — without reporters in Gaza. Anas al-Sharif is a martyr.” The paper accused Israel of “justifying its crimes against journalists” by reporting al-Sharif was a Hamas commander. Witnesses told Arab media he received a phone call moments before the strike hit.
Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad also condemned the killing, calling it a “heinous war crime” and “a death blow to press freedom.” Both warned it was a prelude to further attacks on Gaza “while silencing voices reporting from the ground.”
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Al-Sharif on October 7 next to IDF tank taken over by terrorists
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, also denounced the strike, saying: “Targeting journalists is a war crime and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law. We call on the international community and press freedom organizations to act urgently to stop the ongoing crimes against our people.”
The IDF said in a statement that al-Sharif was a Hamas terrorist who posed as a journalist, serving as a cell commander in the rocket unit of Hamas’s East Jabaliya Battalion. “Anas al-Sharif served as 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 statement read.
He was one of the most prominent media figures in Gaza and the highest-ranking Al Jazeera journalist there. His home was previously struck during the war, killing his father. In October, the IDF released Hamas personnel records showing al-Sharif’s role as a terrorist.
Al-Sharif was also granted rare access to document the release of former hostage and IDF lookout Agam Berger, appearing just meters away from her and members of Hamas’s “Shadow Unit,” responsible for hostages. He had also published photos alongside Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Khalil al-Hayya.
The IDF has eliminated several other figures it describes as “journalist-terrorists” during the war, including some who took part in the October 7 massacre. The military has repeatedly released intelligence materials and documents from Gaza, it says prove the affiliation of these individuals with Hamas or Islamic Jihad.