The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) reported that at least seven people were killed overall, including camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa, their assistant Mohammed Noufal, and correspondents Mohammed Qreiqeh and Anas al-Sharif. Freelance photojournalist Mohammed Al-Khaldi was also killed in the same airstrike.
The NUJ says al-Sharif was a prominent frontline reporter who had been threatened multiple times by Israel over his coverage of the war and the starvation of the Palestinian people. Once again the Israeli military claimed, without providing evidence, that al-Sharif was a ‘terrorist’ - though it did not comment on the five other media workers killed. Al-Jazeera rejected the claims, calling it a “targeted assassination […] in yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom” and a “desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza.” Over the last 22 months, Al Jazeera's core team in Gaza has been wiped out with numerous journalists injured or killed by Israeli forces, who have also raided and shut down the organisation’s bureau in the occupied West Bank.
Last week the NUJ says it joined the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate in condemning the smear campaign against Palestinian journalists. According to the IFJ, at least 196 journalists and media workers – including 181 Palestinians – have been killed since 7 October 2023 making this the deadliest war for our industry in recent history.
A statement posted to al-Sharif’s X account following his death 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."
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said: "This is a horrific attack. We extend our deepest sympathies to the families of the murdered journalists and their colleagues. Journalists have specific rights under international law and once again these rights have been violated while other civilians have been killed as collateral damage. Israel has denied foreign reporters access to Gaza while systematically discrediting, targeting and killing local journalists. These are the activities of a government that does not want the world to witness its actions.
“That the Israeli military openly admits to these atrocities brings into sharp focus the need for international action to end this impunity. We once again reiterate our call for the UK government, who claim to be committed to press freedom, to exert serious pressure to protect journalists, uphold international law and support an investigation by the International Criminal Court into the blatant targeting of journalists and media workers by Israeli forces. There must be immediate international action to end this obscene behaviour.”
Anthony Bellanger, IFJ general secretary, said: "After a smear campaign against Gaza's journalists, Israel has killed five Al Jazeera staff in a tent housing journalists. The deliberate targeting of journalists is a war crime and Israeli leaders must be held accountable for their heinous actions. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this deliberate killing of our colleagues and we stand in solidarity with all staff at Al Jazeera and our colleagues working in Gaza under such unacceptable circumstances.”
The International News Safety Institute posted the following statement on its website:
The International News Safety Institute (INSI) is appalled by the killing of five Al-Jazeera journalists and one freelancer in an Israeli airstrike on their tent near Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, including correspondent Anas al-Sharif.
In most hostile environments, there are steps journalists can take to reduce risk — protective equipment, security training, careful planning. In this case, none of the usual safety measures we take to stay safe would have made any difference. When Israel targets journalists for assassination with devastating weapons, it is the deliberate silencing of witnesses, not collateral damage.
Since the war began less than two years ago, nearly 200 journalists have been killed — an unprecedented toll in modern conflict reporting. The scale of the loss is devastating and underscores the acute and deliberate danger faced by journalists in Gaza.
In a message prepared before his death, Anas al-Sharif wrote: “If my words appear, it means Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.” His voice — and those of Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Moamen Aliwa from Al Jazeera and freelancer Mohammed al-Khaldi — has now been extinguished. Their loss is not only to journalism, but to the world’s ability to understand this war.
We call on all governments, international bodies and media organisations to condemn these killings unequivocally, and to demand accountability for those who order and execute such attacks. There can be no press freedom, no truth and no justice if journalists are murdered for doing their jobs.
When state actors assassinate journalists, it is not simply a crime, it is an attack on the truth itself.
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