Labour 'must back probe into Israel's blatant killing of journalists'
Israel admitted targeting al-Sharif in the strike, claiming that he was an operative for Hamas who had led a 'terrorist cell and advanced rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF troops'. It did not comment on the other five journalists killed.
READ MORE: John Swinney looking at 'whole range of measures' against Israel
However, Al Jazeera rejected the claim against al-Sharif, saying Israel had admitted to its crimes and branding the killing a 'desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza.'
The Committee to Protect Journalists's Sara Qudah said: 'Israel wiped out an entire news crew. It has made no claims that any of the other journalists were terrorists. That's murder. Plain and simple.'
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is accused of perpetrating genocide, is aiming to take complete control over Gaza City, with his security cabinet approving the plans last Friday.
Israel does not allow any international media outlets into Gaza, meaning organisations have to rely on reports from local journalists in the region. Al Jazeera warned that al-Sharif and his colleagues were 'among the last remaining voices' in Gaza.
Anas al-Sharif was killed by Israel (Image: Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images) The spokesperson for the UN secretary general has said they are investigating the killing of al-Sharif and the other media workers.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has said that at least 195 journalists – including 180 Palestinians – have been killed since October 7, 2023.
IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger 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.'
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon says Israel committing 'nothing short of genocide'
In the UK, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) called for the Labour Government to support an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Israel's killing of journalists. Netanyahu is already wanted for arrest by the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity.
NUJ general secretary Laura Davison said: '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.'
Husam Zumlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, said: 'This deliberate assassination of Palestinian journalists is part of Israel's ongoing effort to silence the truth and carry out genocide in darkness. But no matter how many they kill, our people will continue to document and expose these atrocities to the world.'
Israel has killed Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Esharif and four of his colleagues in an airstrike on their tent outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza. This deliberate assassination of Palestinian journalists is part of Israel's ongoing effort to silence the truth and carry out genocide… pic.twitter.com/IFOu1sfzWP — Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) August 10, 2025
Former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf said: 'I hope every journalist in Scotland, UK and across the world will stand in solidarity with fellow journalists who are being targeted and assassinated by Israel with impunity.
'These are the actions of a regime that does not want the truth of what they are doing in Gaza to be exposed.'
Yousaf further shared a post from journalist Mehdi Hasan, who had written in response to allegations against al-Sharif made by the IDF: 'Remember that this military's leadership is currently indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, and being investigated for genocide at the International Court of Justice.'
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: 'The deliberate and relentless killing of Palestinian journalists is sickening beyond words – and is a desperate attempt to silence the truth about Israel's ongoing crimes against humanity.
'Shame on all those who empowered Israel to murder with impunity.'
The UK Government has been approached for comment.
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The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
The state-sponsored killing of journalists is another way to limit freedom of speech
The life of journalist Anas al-Sharif is worth no more and no less than any other life lost during the war in Gaza, or in the terrorist atrocities, perpetrated by Hamas, that preceded it. But his targeted killing – alongside that of the four other Al Jazeera staff members who died with him – does raise further significant questions about the way in which Israel has conducted the war. That an accredited journalist who worked for Al Jazeera (and previously for Reuters) was specifically targeted by the Israel Defense Forces is a development that can only be looked upon with a degree of horror. His death was not the kind of inevitable collateral damage that can take place in any war; for want of a better word, Sharif was the subject of a state-sponsored assassination. The Israeli authorities say he was a terrorist, belonged to Hamas, and served as the leader of a cell. They've produced some documentary evidence, but this has not impressed the independent observers who've examined it, and it raises the question of why, if it was so compelling, it was not released sooner. It certainly does not give any lawful reason for his killing, still less that of his Al Jazeera colleagues – correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, cameramen Moamen Aliwa and Ibrahim Zaher, and their assistant Mohammed Noufal – none of whom has been claimed by the Israelis to have had any links to Hamas. Truth, as the old cliche goes, is the first casualty of war, and the fact is that Israel – unusually – has banned international journalists from covering the conflict. The Israeli authorities say it is not safe to do so, a grim irony given Sharif's fate. That, though, is not a matter for them to judge: it is one that should be left to the many news organisations, including The Independent, that have proudly dispatched brave journalists into even more hazardous environments over the course of many decades. Moreover, the Israeli policy has meant that the actions of the Israel Defense Forces cannot be independently monitored and reported on in the traditional manner. The images captured during recent aid flights and first reported by The Independent, of a moonscape where once were bustling neighbourhoods and olive groves, have, alongside the reportage of Sharif and his colleagues, given the world some idea of the disproportionate way in which Israel has acted. The result is that Israel stands accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, and the term 'genocide' is increasingly being used in connection with the denial of food and medicines to the people of Gaza. Absent the full measure of international scrutiny, journalists from Gaza itself have had to take on the responsibility of providing this essential function. They have willingly placed themselves in the line of fire to tell the world about the destruction of the Gaza Strip, and its human cost; to assess the extent of terrorist activity; and to draw attention to the plight of the hostages still cruelly held by Hamas. Wearing 'PRESS' flak jackets and helmets, they should have received the normal protections afforded to all journalists, and they might well have if they'd been, say, American or Saudi. The vast majority of the 232 or so journalists who have died in the war in Gaza have been Palestinian – a statistic that almost speaks for itself. According to the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs' Costs of War project, more journalists have been killed in Gaza than in both world wars, the Vietnam war, the wars in Yugoslavia, and the United States' war in Afghanistan combined. As the exiled Palestinian writer Ahmed Najad has written in this newspaper, the death of Sharif is an attack on truth itself – and such attacks on freedom of speech and thought are sadly not confined to war zones. The arrest of hundreds of passive, peaceful protesters in London over the weekend shows how the effects of the war in Gaza, and the bitter arguments surrounding it, have spread across the world – or at least, to those parts where dissent is still possible and the press remains relatively uncontrolled by the state. It may well be the case, as ministers darkly hint, that Palestine Action is intent on carrying out activities that its supporters do not know about, but that still does not justify detaining elderly people whose only crime is to hold up a piece of cardboard with a message on it and exercise their right to free expression. A nation that seeks the support of its allies the world over will not succeed in drawing others to its cause by denying international reporters – and indeed, other countries' governments, and citizens – access to the truth. If Israel feels its actions are justified, then it must allow proper scrutiny of them, including coverage of the war it seems intent on perpetrating. The killing of journalists will never elicit anything other than shock from the international community. Benjamin Netanyahu would do well to remember this.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
‘It was horrific': Witnesses tell how Israeli missiles tore through journalists' tent in Gaza City
Sheltering in tents on the grounds of the Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City, the Al-Jazeera journalists had just bid each other good night. Another day of reporting on the violence, starvation and brutality in their besieged homeland had ground to an end. Fifteen minutes later, Israeli missiles tore through the sky and eviscerated the tent. Anas al-Sharif, 28, one of the news channel's most prominent voices in Gaza, was killed alongside reporter Mohammed Qreiqeh and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. A sixth journalist, a freelance, was killed nearby. Sharif had been intentionally targeted by the Israelis, who accused him of being the head of a Hamas terror cell but offered no credible evidence to back up their claim. There was no explanation for the killing of the other men alongside him. Saed, a Palestinian journalist staying in a nearby tent on the same site, was thrown to the ground by the deafening explosion when the strike hit. 'I lost consciousness,' he told The Independent. 'Suddenly, my eyes went back to the area, and I saw that the journalists' tent had been targeted.' Amer, 31, also in the same compound, came rushing out. He described seeing one journalist, injured in the legs and back, screaming for help. Sharif – who had faced numerous death threats in the run-up to the strike – was lying dead on the ground behind him. His colleague Mohammed Qreiqeh was alive, just about, but on fire. Those around him scrambled to try to extinguish the flames, Amer continued. 'One man was killed while sitting in a chair, and another was killed inside the journalist tent next to us. It was horrific,' he added, visibly shaken. Shrapnel had sprayed the journalist syndicate tent, killing a sixth journalist who did not work for Al Jazeera, as well as a passer-by. 'These journalists were the voice and the image of our suffering here in Gaza – and now they have become the subject of the stories they were covering,' Amer said. 'Anas expected that he would be targeted at any moment. He accepted the possibility, based on the threats against him. He was reporting to the world what was happening, conveying the images and the massacres being committed in the Gaza Strip. There was no place for him to hide.' Sharif had prepared for his death. A lengthy and heartbreaking statement posted to his X (Twitter) account after he was killed read: 'This is my last will and testament. If these words of mine reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.' The message concluded: 'Do not forget Gaza... And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.' Shortly before he was killed, he posted that there was 'non-stop bombing' in the area. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) warned last month that it was gravely concerned for Sharif's safety as he was being 'targeted by an Israeli military smear campaign', and said that the unfounded accusations 'represented an effort to manufacture consent to kill al-Sharif'. Sara Qudah, the group's director for the Middle East and north Africa, said two weeks ago that the level of danger to al-Sharif's life was 'now acute'. A UN expert previously warned that Sharif's life was in danger because of his reporting from Gaza, while special rapporteur Irene Khan said last month that Israel's claims against Sharif were unsubstantiated. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming Sharif was a Hamas militant who was responsible for coordinating rocket attacks. Jodie Ginsberg, the chief executive of the CPJ, said the organisation had yet to see 'any credible evidence' to back Israel's allegations against Sharif. 'They've been making this claim for many, many months, most recently in the last couple of weeks following a report that Anas did on starvation in Gaza, in which he cried on air,' Ms Ginsberg said. 'We've asked for evidence repeatedly from Israel.' The journalists' deaths were roundly condemned across the world, with Sir Keir Starmer 's spokesperson saying the prime minister was 'gravely concerned by the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza'. They added: 'Reporters covering conflicts are afforded protection under international humanitarian law, and journalists must be able to report independently, without fear, and Israel must ensure journalists can carry out their work safely.' Al Jazeera Media Network condemned what it called the 'targeted assassination' of Sharif, and said he and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices from within Gaza providing the world with 'unfiltered, on-the-ground coverage of the devastating realities endured by its people'. Omar Shakir, from Human Rights Watch, added: 'The brazen targeted killing of Palestinian journalists Anas al-Sharif and Mohammad Qreiqeh, along with four other media workers, highlights the unimaginable peril Palestinian journalists in Gaza face, and the Israeli military's complete disregard for civilian life. 'As Israel continues to impose a ban on journalists entering Gaza, Palestinian journalists play an indispensable role in documenting and reporting Israel's ongoing extermination of Palestinians. 'Rather than killing voices reporting on its atrocities in Gaza, Israel should stop committing them.'
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Israel's chilling warning to Iranian leader as Tehran publishes IDF 'hit list'
Israeli officials have responded to a 'hit list' of assassination targets including many members of the country's top brass who helped orchestrate the 'Red Wedding' attack Israel has issued a chilling warning to Iran's supreme leader in the wake of a "hit list" containing a record of high-profile targets within the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Ali Khamenei's Iranian regime has marked several Israeli officials "for elimination", including Benjamin Netanyahu, but the hit list has failed to raise significant eyebrows in Tel-Aviv. Far-right defence minister Israel Katz, in one of the first official responses to the list of 11 people chosen as assassination targets, which also includes himself and Eyal Zamir the Chief of the General Staff of the IDF, poked fun while issuing a warning complete with a Game of Thrones reference. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the minister told the Ayatollah to "listen carefully for any buzzing" in a chilling threat. It comes after Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu 'completely lost it' with angry response to Keir Starmer. Posting a screenshot of a Telegram post depicting a tree of figures who make up the Israeli top brass, Katz suggested Israel was "waiting" for him to emerge. He said: "I suggest to the Iranian dictator Khamenei that when he emerges from his bunker, he occasionally looks up to the sky and listens carefully for any buzzing. The participants of the 'Red Wedding' are waiting for him there." Katz's Game of Thrones "Red Wedding" reference harkens back to a previous Israeli operation during which the country launched a direct assault on Iran, named after the Game of Thrones massacre in which an entire family is wiped out in minutes. The June 13 attack saw Israeli officials claim the state was "approaching the point of no return" in its bid to manufacture a working nuclear weapon. The elaborate attack killed a series of top Iranian military commanders, who were all gathered in one place, and the new list of Israeli officials alludes to a desire for a tit-for-tat reprisal. More than 200 Israeli Air Force aircraft took part in the opening strikes as fighter jets dropped more than 330 munitions on around 100 targets. Chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, chief of Iran's military, Mohammad Bagheri and the head of the Emergency Command, Gholam Ali Rashid, were all wiped out in a matter of hours. According to Iranian authorities, more than 627 people were killed in Iran during the 12-day conflict with Israel. Israel reported 28 civilian deaths and the death of one off-duty soldier, while 3,238 people were hospitalised. Israel also said it killed more than 30 nuclear researchers as part of the assault, with Iran now reportedly having sent surviving scientists into hiding. Tensions between Israel and Iran have cooled for the time-being as the state focusses its efforts on Gaza, with Netanyahu preparing to seize control of Gaza City in a prospective five-pronged plan. The upcoming mobilisation, a massive undertaking even for Israel, which has been waging war in the territory since 2023, will see Israeli forces enter starvation-hit Gaza City with five core aims. He has insisted the "best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily" is by disarming Hamas, returning all hostages, demilitarising the Gaza Strip, establishing Israeli control of the Strip, and establishing an alternative, Israel-approved civilian administration to replace Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.
