Israel kills Al Jazeera journalist it claims was Hamas leader
Al Jazeera said Al Sharif had left a social media message to be posted in the event of his death that read: "I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or misrepresentation, hoping God would witness those who remained silent.'
Last October, Israel's military named Al Sharif as one of six Gaza journalists it alleged were members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, citing documents it said showed lists of people who completed training courses and salaries.
'Al Jazeera categorically rejects the Israeli occupation forces' portrayal of our journalists as terrorists and denounces their use of fabricated evidence,' the network said at the time.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which in July urged the international community to protect Al Sharif, said Israel had failed to provide any evidence to back its allegations against him.
'Israel's pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,' said Sara Qudah, CPJ's director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Al Sharif, whose X account showed more than 500,000 followers, posted on the platform minutes before his death that Israel had been intensely bombarding Gaza City for more than two hours.
Palestinian militant group Hamas, which runs Gaza, said the killing may signal the start of an Israeli offensive.
'The assassination of journalists and the intimidation of those who remain paves the way for a major crime the occupation is planning to commit in Gaza City,' Hamas said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would launch a new offensive to dismantle Hamas strongholds in Gaza, where a hunger crisis is escalating after 22 months of war.
'Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices in Gaza conveying the tragic reality to the world,' Al Jazeera said.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said 237 journalists have been killed since the war started on October 7 2023. The CPJ said at least 186 journalists have been killed in the Gaza conflict.
Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
eNCA
7 hours ago
- eNCA
Trump signs order to extend China tariff truce by 90 days
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a delay in the re-imposition of higher tariffs on Chinese goods, hours before a trade truce between Washington and Beijing was due to expire. The White House's halt on steeper tariffs will be in place until November 10. "I have just signed an Executive Order that will extend the Tariff Suspension on China for another 90 days," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The truce on steeper levies had been due to expire Tuesday. While the United States and China slapped escalating tariffs on each other's products this year, bringing them to prohibitive triple-digit levels and snarling trade, both countries in May agreed to temporarily lower them. As part of their May truce, fresh US tariffs targeting China were reduced to 30 percent and the corresponding level from China was cut to 10 percent. Those rates will now hold until November -- or whenever a deal is cut before then. Around the same time that Trump confirmed the new extension, Chinese state media Xinhua news agency published a joint statement from US-China talks in Stockholm saying it would also extend its side of the truce. China will continue suspending its earlier tariff hike for 90 days starting August 12 while retaining a 10-percent duty, the report said. It would also "take or maintain necessary measures to suspend or remove non-tariff countermeasures against the United States, as agreed in the Geneva joint declaration," Xinhua reported. In the executive order posted Monday to its website, the White House reiterated its position that there are "large and persistent annual US goods trade deficits" and they "constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States." The order acknowledged Washington's ongoing discussions with Beijing "to address the lack of trade reciprocity in our economic relationship" and noted that China has continued to "take significant steps toward remedying" the US complaints. Trump-Xi summit? "Beijing will be happy to keep the US-China negotiation going, but it is unlikely to make concessions," warned William Yang, an analyst at the International Crisis Group. He believes China sees its leverage over rare earth exports as a strong one, and that Beijing will likely use it to pressure Washington. US-China Business Council president Sean Stein said the current extension is "critical to give the two governments time to negotiate an agreement" providing much-needed certainty for companies to make plans. A trade deal, in turn, would "pave the way for a Trump-Xi summit this fall," said Asia Society Policy Institute senior vice president Wendy Cutler. But Cutler, herself a former US trade official, said: "This will be far from a walk in the park." Since Trump took office, China's tariffs have essentially boomeranged, from the initially modest 10 percent hike in February, followed by repeated surges as Beijing and Washington clashed, until it hit a high of 145 percent in April. Now the tariff has been pulled back to 30 percent, a negotiated truce rate. Even as both countries reached a pact to cool tensions after high level talks in Geneva in May, the de-escalation has been shaky. Key economic officials convened in London in June as disagreements emerged and US officials accused their counterparts of violating the pact. Policymakers met again in Stockholm last month. Trump said in a social media post Sunday that he hoped China will "quickly quadruple its soybean orders," adding this would be a way to balance trade with the United States. China's exports reached record highs in 2024, and Beijing reported that their exports exceeded expectations in June, climbing 5.8 percent year-on-year, as the economic superpower works to sustain growth amid Trump's trade war. Separately, since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has slapped a 10-percent "reciprocal" tariff on almost all trading partners, aimed at addressing trade practices Washington deemed unfair. This surged to varying steeper levels last Thursday for dozens of economies. Major partners like the European Union, Japan and South Korea now see a 15-percent US duty on many products, while the level went as high as 41 percent for Syria. The "reciprocal" tariffs exclude sectors that have been targeted individually, such as steel and aluminum, and those that are being investigated like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. They are also expected to exclude gold, although a clarification by US customs authorities made public last week caused concern that certain gold bars might still be targeted. Trump said Monday that gold imports will not face additional tariffs, without providing further details. The president has taken separate aim at individual countries such as Brazil over the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of planning a coup, and India over its purchase of Russian oil. Canada and Mexico come under a different tariff regime.
IOL News
8 hours ago
- IOL News
UN, media groups condemn Israel's deadly strike on Al Jazeera team in Gaza
Al Jazeera staff members observe a moment of silence to honour their five colleagues, killed in an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, at the networks' headquarters in Doha. Gazans gathered on Monday for the funeral of five Al Jazeera staff members and a sixth reporter killed in an Israeli strike, with Israel calling one of them a "terrorist" affiliated with Hamas. Image: Karim JAAFAR / AFP Condemnations poured in from the United Nations and media rights groups after an Israeli strike killed an Al Jazeera news team in Gaza, as Palestinians mourned the journalists and Israel accused one of them of being a Hamas militant. Dozens of Gazans stood amid bombed-out buildings in the courtyard of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to pay their respects to Anas al-Sharif, a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent aged 28, and four of his colleagues killed on Sunday. Hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya said a sixth journalist, freelance reporter Mohammed Al-Khaldi, was killed in the strike that targeted the Al Jazeera team. Mourners including men wearing blue journalists' flak jackets carried their bodies, wrapped in white shrouds with their faces exposed, through narrow alleys to their graves. Israel confirmed it had targeted Sharif, whom it labelled a "terrorist" affiliated with Hamas, alleging he "posed as a journalist". Al Jazeera said four other employees - correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa - were killed when the strike hit a tent set up for journalists outside the main gate of Al-Shifa. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ An Israeli military statement accused Sharif of heading a Hamas "terrorist cell" and being "responsible for advancing rocket attacks" against Israelis. The military released documents alleging to show the date of Sharif's enlistment with Hamas in 2013, an injury report from 2017 and the name of his military unit and rank. According to local journalists who knew him, Sharif had worked at the start of his career with a Hamas communication office, where his role was to publicise events organised by the group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2006. Sharif was one of the Al Jazeera's most recognisable faces working on the ground in Gaza, providing daily reports on the now 22-month-old war. Media freedom groups have condemned the Israeli strike on journalists, which the UN human rights agency called a "grave breach of international humanitarian law". A posthumous message, written by Sharif in April in case of his death, was published online saying he had been silenced and urging people "not to forget Gaza". In July, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for his protection following online posts by an Israeli military spokesman. The group had accused Israel of a "pattern" of labelling journalists militants "without providing credible evidence", and said the military had levelled similar accusations against media workers in Gaza including Al Jazeera staff. "International law is clear that active combatants are the only justified targets in a war setting," Jodie Ginsberg, CPJ's chief executive, told AFP. Unless Israel "can demonstrate that Anas al-Sharif was still an active combatant, then there is no justification for his killing", she said. Al Jazeera called the attack "a desperate attempt to silence voices exposing the Israeli occupation", as it described Sharif as "one of Gaza's bravest journalists". The Qatari broadcaster also said the strike followed "repeated incitement" and calls by Israeli officials to target Sharif and his colleagues.
The Citizen
10 hours ago
- The Citizen
Sanef slams Gaza journalist killings, calls for action and accountability
The United Nations reported that at least 242 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, with a rising death toll. The South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) has expressed abhorrence and outrage at the continued assassination and brutal murder of journalists in Gaza, saying the actions are deplorable and an 'evil assault on press freedom and human rights.' This comes after Israel killed five Al Jazeera reporters in an airstrike near Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital on Sunday. Attack Correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, alongside cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, were in a tent for journalists at the hospital's main gate when it was targeted. Reporters without Borders (RSF) said a freelance journalist was also killed in the attack. Israel's military claimed responsibility for the assassination, saying Al-Sharif led a unit of Hamas' armed wing. According to RSF, Mohammed al-Khaldi, the creator of a YouTube news channel, was the sixth fatality, and freelance reporters Mohammed Sobh, Mohammed Qita and Ahmed al-Harazine were wounded. 'Right to information' Sanef said the attack is a 'grave threat to the public's right to information.' 'Sanef has, on numerous occasions, unequivocally condemned the brutality of the Israeli military in specifically targeting journalists and systematically denying other international journalists the ability to report live from Gaza. 'Disturbingly, the Israeli military has admitted to targeting journalists, attempting to unfairly brand them as Hamas operatives without any shred of evidence to justify these cold-blooded murders,' Sanef said. ALSO READ: Sanef condemns Israel's ongoing killing of journalists in Gaza [VIDEO] Journalists killed The United Nations reported that at least 242 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, with a rising death toll. 'We wish to record our deepest repugnance at the death toll of journalists in Gaza since the attack on October 7th, 2023, by Hamas on Israeli civilians,' Sanef said. 'Sanef joins the call of other international organisations dedicated to defending media rights and advocating for media freedom and the protection of journalists, and voices its grave concerns'. Truth reporting The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), has repeatedly highlighted the record number of journalists killed in the conflict, emphasising the urgent need for investigations and accountability. RSF has similarly condemned the deliberate targeting of media workers, underscoring the vital role journalists play in informing the world during times of conflict. 'The world relies on journalists to bear witness and report the truth, and their protection must be paramount,' RSF said. ALSO READ: Sanef 'strongly condemns' Israeli soldiers attack of Al Jazeera in Ramallah [VIDEO]
