Hundreds gathered in Gaza City on Monday to mourn five Al Jazeera journalists killed in an Israeli airstrike. Friends, colleagues and relatives made their way to Sheikh Radwan cemetery, where the bodies, wrapped in white, were carried through the streets from al-Shifa Hospital.
The attack happened late Sunday night outside al-Shifa Hospital, where a tent had become a regular workspace for local and international media still trying to cover Gaza’s bombardment. The Al Jazeera journalists killed were: Anas al-Sharif, one of Al Jazeera’s most recognisable faces in Gaza; fellow correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh; and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa. A sixth media worker, freelance journalist Mohammad al-Khaldi, was also killed, and several others were injured.
Wadi Abu al-Saud, a journalist present during the strike, described a moment of horror: “I entered the tent opposite theirs, raised my phone to make a call, and then the explosion occurred. A piece of shrapnel hit my phone. I looked back and saw people burning in flames. I tried to extinguish them. Anas and the others had died instantly from the strike,” told The Guardian.
Later, Saud told the media, “From now on, I will not continue the coverage. The truth has died and the coverage has ended.”
The Israeli military quickly claimed responsibility for the killings, stating it had targeted Al-Sharif, labelling him a Hamas operative. Al Jazeera, as well as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and several international media rights groups, rejected this as a “dangerous attempt to justify the targeting of journalists in the field” weeks before the attack, and noted that Israel provided no verifiable evidence for its claims.
International condemnation followed, with Sara Qudah of the CPJ stating: “Israel’s pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom.”
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) in Australia did not mince words, declaring: “The targeting of journalists is a blatant attack on press freedom, and it is also a war crime. It must stop.
“The ban preventing the world’s media from accessing the region and providing unfettered coverage of the worsening humanitarian crisis must stop. And the silencing of Palestinian journalists via a rising death toll approaching 200 since October 2023 must stop.”
The office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said Israel’s targeted killing of the journalists in Gaza was a “grave breach of international humanitarian law”.
Al Jazeera described the strike as “a desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza” and called Al-Sharif “one of Gaza’s bravest journalists”.
The absence of international reporters — barred by Israel since 7 October 2023 — means local journalists have carried the risk of documenting the war themselves, often at great personal cost. According to Gaza’s media office, over 230 journalists have been killed since the conflict began, with the CPJ recording at least 186 fatalities.
In a message written months before his death and shared posthumously, Al-Sharif said: “I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification.”
He continued, “Do not forget Gaza… And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.”
Lead image: Getty Images
The post Crowds Gather In Gaza To Grieve 5 Al Jazeera Journalists Killed In Israeli Airstrike appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
