Five journalists working for Al Jazeera, who covered the events of the Gaza Strip, were killed this Sunday, August 10 by an Israeli strike in front of the Al-Shifa hospital. Among them, Anas Al-Sharif, a reporter known for its coverage of the territory without coastline, that the Israeli army confirmed that it points.
• Israel claims to have attacked a “terrorist”
The Qatar-based television channel announced that five journalists died on a strike on a tent used by its journalists in Gaza-Ville, in front of the Al-Shifa hospital.
The victims are the two correspondents Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh and the three Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa cameramen. The Israeli army acknowledged having attacked the first reporter on this list, calling him “terrorist” who “pretended to be a journalist.”
Israel said in Telegram that Anas Al-Sharif was “the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organization and was responsible for preparing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and” Israeli, justifying his strike this Sunday.
According to journalists without Frontières, almost 200 Palestinian journalists have already lost their lives in strikes that affect the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the conflict more than 20 months ago.
• Anas al-Sharif, Al Jazeera Palestinian Figure
At the age of 28, Anas Al-Sharif was one of the best known faces of the Al Jazeera channel and covered the daily life of the Palestinians in the heart of the conflict between Hamas and Israel from the attack of October 7.
He was one of the few local journalists who are still present in the enclave despite the general prohibition of international reporters to enter the Gaza Strip. Born in the Jabaliya field, the largest refugee camp in Palestine, married and had two children.
In a final interview, he explained that he was aware of representing a goal for the Israeli army. “These threats are perpetual, but it is my duty. I show the suffering of the Palestinian people among which I live, the suffering that I also live.”
In this idea, he prepared a “last message” last April to publish in his account X in case of death, which was held on Monday, August 11. “I experienced pain in all its details, I knew with the suffering and loss of many times, however, I have never doubted to share the truth as it is, without distortion or falification,” he wrote.
• Al Jazeera condemns and asks for the stop the fire
Al Jazeera condemned “the murder of its journalists for the Israeli occupation forces” and denounced “another flagrant and premeditated attack against press freedom.”
“The order to assassinate Anas Al-Sharif, one of Gaza’s most brave journalists, and his colleagues is a desperate attempt to silence the votes that denounce the occupation of Gaza,” wrote the Qatari channel in a statement published Monday.
The media ask the international community to “take measures to stop the current genocide and finish the deliberate orientation of journalists.”
Relationships between Israel and the Al Jazeera channel have been very tense for almost two years. In May 2024, the country had decided to prohibit the dissemination of Al Jazeera in its territory and close its offices, the result of a long -standing conflict between the media and the government of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who worsened during the current war in the Gaza Strip.
The chain transmits continuous reports on October 7, 2023 on the consequences of Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territory. Programs that are among the most followed in the Middle East.
The Israeli army has repeatedly accused journalists of this chain of being “terrorist agents” in Gaza affiliated with Hamas.
• The difficulty of access to Gaza for journalists
In more general terms, the international press cannot work freely in the Palestinian territory since the beginning of the conflict. Only a few media, selected, entered aboard the Israeli army, their reports are subject to strict military censorship.
At the end of July, several press agencies that AFP warned about famine and the lack of care of their employees in Gaza, evoking a “frightening situation.” “Without immediate intervention”, these reporters “will die”, the company of AFP journalists had denounced.
Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, August 10, having given the Army to authorize a greater number of international press journalists to work under their control in the Gaza Strip.
At the same time, the Israeli prime minister presented his plan to end the war “in the best way”, which consists in disarming Hamas, freeing all hostages, demilitarizing Gaza, taking control of a preponderant security control and finally establishing a non -Israeli Pacific Civil Administration.
Source: BFM TV
