Anas al-Sharif's mother: ‘My son was invited to Qatar, but he refused to leave Gaza'
'What can I tell you? There's no one like Anas,' she told Middle East Eye in a displacement camp in Gaza City.
Since Israel's genocide on Gaza began in October 2023, her son had become one of the most famous journalists in Gaza.
The Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent was loved and greeted by Palestinians everywhere he went.
When he reported the announcement of a short-lived ceasefire in January, Sharif was hoisted onto the shoulders of a jubilant passerby.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
'He was tender with his sisters and his brothers,' his mother said. 'He was kind to the people outside. To everyone, in everything.
'Everything he did was good. He never got involved in anything bad,' she added.
A life spent helping people
On Sunday night, Sharif was brutally killed alongside five of his colleagues when Israeli forces deliberately targeted their clearly marked media tent near al-Shifa hospital in central Gaza.
Middle East Eye contributor Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed al-Khalidi were also killed. It brought the total number of journalists killed by Israel during the genocide to 238.
Fawzia remembers fondly the last time she saw her son, 10 days ago.
'I hadn't seen him for a while, and suddenly he came to see me,' she recalls. 'We sat together. I was happy with his visit. Then he left, and I didn't see him again.'
'God willing there are young people to continue Anas's path, exposing the occupation'
- Fawzia al-Sharif, mother
His mother said that Sharif was offered the opportunity, along with his family, to leave Gaza, but he refused.
'They invited him to Qatar. He said, 'I can't go… I must leave Gaza only for paradise.' That was his mission,' she explained.
The Israeli military claimed, without providing any credible evidence, that it killed Sharif because he "served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organisation".
Israel has routinely made such unsubstantiated claims about journalists, which have been strongly rejected by Al Jazeera and by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Fawzia said that her son spent his whole life helping other people.
'If he saw elderly people, he'd take them. I'd ask him 'Who are these?' He would say 'These are for God, Mum. Take them.' He loved people.
'All his life, from when he was a child, through university, studying and learning, he stuck to this principle.'
'Daddy is in paradise'
Sharif was married, and had two young children.
Fawzia sat with her grandchildren, four-year-old Sham and one-year-old Salah, showing them a picture of the two of them with their father. He was wearing his press vest, while Sham proudly held his Al Jazeera microphone.
BBC condemned for repeating Israeli narrative on slain journalist Anas al-Sharif Read More »
'Daddy is in paradise,' said Sham, as she kissed the screen of the phone.
'Who did he go to?' asked Fawzia, to which her granddaughter replied: 'He went to my grandfather and my uncle Shadi.'
Fawzia said that as Israel's siege and war caused famine across Gaza, her son reported the situation while suffering through it himself.
'He worked with heart and dedication. He went straight to the point.
'God willing there are young people to continue in his place and continue Anas's path, exposing the occupation,' she added.
Fawzia said she was proud of her son, and held her head high because of him.
'I am the mother of Anas al-Sharif. I send my message to the whole world.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
2 minutes ago
- The National
Israel faces resistance from armed factions in Gaza city
Israeli troops preparing to seize Gaza city have been fired on by armed groups, as their offensive left dozens more Palestinians dead across the strip. The Israeli army is hunting explosives and dismantling what it says is 'terrorist infrastructure' in the Al Zeitoun area of Gaza city. Residents say an air assault has already flattened the neighbourhood, in what they fear is the first stage of Israel's plan to capture the city. Several armed factions have claimed attacks on Israeli troops in the area. The Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said they fired a shell at a Merkava main battle tank in Al Zeitoun. On Friday the Al Nasser Salah Al Din Brigades – a coalition of militants who took part in the October 7 attacks on Israel in 2023 – said they 'bombed a gathering' of Israeli troops and vehicles in the area. Statements from the groups were carried by friendly media outlets. The Israeli army said it came under fire from an anti-tank missile, with no injuries reported. 'The troops swiftly located and eliminated the terrorists,' it said on Friday, without specifying when that incident took place. As part of their operations in Al Zeitoun, Israeli troops 'struck and dismantled a booby-trapped structure that stored weapons', the military said. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved plans last week to capture the Gaza city as a first step towards taking control of the whole territory. The move has been widely condemned amid fears the dire conditions in the strip will worsen further. Gaza health officials raised the war's death toll to 61,827 on Friday, after 51 bodies were brought to hospitals in the previous 24 hours. They said one child died of malnutrition in the same period. The Palestinian news agency Wafa said six people were killed while waiting to receive aid. The UN human rights office said on Friday that at least 1,760 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May, a jump of several hundred since its last published figure in early August. Israel denies a campaign to kill civilians, saying the starvation and chaos at food banks are the fault of Hamas and UN aid workers. 'All of this could have been prevented easily if [aid agency] UNRWA and other humanitarian organisations were allowed to bring in the minimum every day, and that is 500 to 600 trucks of basics,' said UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma. 'We're not asking for the moon here.' Gaza's civil defence agency says Israeli forces have destroyed more than 300 homes in Al Zeitoun neighbourhood in just three days. According to journalist Bilal Al Nabih, the Israeli army has attacked the area at least five times since the war escalated in March, but the current operation is by far the most destructive. Israel's army chief Lt Gen Eyal Zamir said on Thursday that the military was 'completing preparations' for the new offensive in Gaza. 'The campaign will end when we have ensured our security and our future,' he said.
Middle East Eye
32 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Israeli settlers raid village near Jericho in West Bank
Israeli settlers raided the village of Shallalat al-Auja, north of Jericho in the West Bank on Friday, Wafa news agency reported, citing local sources. Settlers were said to have roamed among residents' homes in an intimidating way. Setllers are known to repeatedly raid and attack an area as a means of displacing Palestinians from their homes. They depend on the area's water resources and agriculture.
Middle East Eye
32 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Israeli army fires at emergency vehicles trying to rescue civilians in Gaza City
The Israeli army has been shooting at emergency vehicles who have been trying to rescue wounded and dead people in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday. Israel has been carpet bombing the neighborhood all week, destroying hundreds of homes, as part of it's offensive to take over Gaza City. Gaza Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal told Al Jazeera that the Israel army's fire has hit residential buildings, resulting in many casualties. Basal called on the international community to intervene.
