The IPI global network today condemns in the strongest possible terms Israel’s targeted killing of five Al Jazeera journalists, including prominent correspondent Anas Al-Sharif, and one freelancer. We demand that the Israeli military immediately cease its targeted attacks against all journalists and media workers, as they cover this conflict amid a deepening humanitarian crisis.
We further urge the international community to strongly condemn these attacks and use all diplomatic means at its disposal to pressure Israel to ensure the safety of journalists, as civilians, in line with international humanitarian law.
The attack on August 10 targeted a tent the journalists were staying in near the main entrance to Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital. The journalists killed included Anas Al-Sharif, one of Gaza’s most prominent and well-known journalists. Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa were also killed, as well as freelance reporter Mohammad al-Khaldi. Several other journalists were reportedly wounded in the strike.
The Israeli military confirmed the targeted attack in a statement, claiming Al-Sharif had led a Hamas cell and carried out rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF troops, without providing any evidence to support this claim. Israeli authorities have previously claimed that journalists killed in IDF strikes in Gaza were “terrorists” fighting for Hamas, without offering credible evidence to support the assertions.
“We are appalled by news of the targeted killing of five Al Jazeera journalists – and extend our deepest condolences to their families and colleagues at Al Jazeera for this heartbreaking loss,” said the IPI Executive Board in a statement. “This attack is part of an insidious pattern of smearing, then killing, journalists in Palestine who dare to report the realities of this devastating conflict. We urge the international community to finally act to prevent further bloodshed against the journalists attempting to bring world news from inside Gaza, as military bombardments continue and the humanitarian crisis escalates.”
In a final, prewritten statement posted to X after his death, Al-Sharif wrote, “I never hesitated for a single day to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification.”
Al Jazeera called the killings “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom” in a statement released shortly after the strike. Eleven Al Jazeera journalists have now been killed since the start of the conflict. On August 4, Israeli forces raided the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah, which has been closed by the military since September 2024, and extended its closure order by 60 days.
Nearly 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed by the Israeli military since the start of the conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Few local journalists remain in Gaza. As the humanitarian crisis escalates, those still reporting face increasingly unbearable conditions, including starvation, displacement and extreme threats to their lives.
“It is urgent that the international community use all diplomatic means at its disposal to ensure Israel complies with its obligation to protect journalists in conflict zones, in accordance with the rules of war,” said IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen. “The need for independent news documenting the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is more important than ever. Journalists – both international and local – must be given free and unfettered access to the Strip and must be able to report safely without fear of being targeted by warring parties.”