Israel marked Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif for death a year ago
"The order to kill Anas al-Sharif, one of Gaza's bravest journalists, along with his colleagues, is a desperate attempt to silence voices ahead of the occupation of Gaza," the Qatar-based media outlet said.WHO WAS GAZA'S ANAS AL-SHARIF, REPORTER OR TERRORIST?A few minutes before his death, al-Sharif shared on X the details of the situation around him."Breaking: Intense, concentrated Israeli bombardment using 'fire belts' is hitting the eastern and southern areas of Gaza City," he wrote.In a final message, which Al Jazeera said had been written on April 6 and which was posted to al-Sharif's X account after his death, the reporter said that he had "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".Al-Sharif was a Palestinian journalist and videographer for Al Jazeera Arabic, widely recognised for his reporting from northern Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.Born in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, he graduated from Al-Aqsa University with a bachelor's degree in mass communication, specialising in radio and television.He began his career volunteering at the Al-Shamal Media Network before joining Al Jazeera as a northern Gaza correspondent.From October 2023, Al-Sharif became one of the most visible faces reporting on the war in Gaza, refusing to leave from the north despite repeated Israeli orders and direct threats to his life.He continued daily coverage through airstrikes, massacres, and displacement, often working under extreme danger and chronic shortages of basic supplies.ANAS AL-SHARIF EXPRESSED FEARS OF BEING KILLED IN JULYAl-Sharif received phone calls from the Israeli military telling him to leave northern Gaza in November 2023. The following month, his father was killed in an Israeli airstrike on their family home in Jabalia.advertisementDue to poor health, his father was unable to evacuate with the rest of their family.Al-Sharif described the experience as both "cruel" and "painful", yet said it strengthened his resolve to continue telling the stories of Gaza's suffering.Just last month, he expressed to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) his fear of being "bombed and martyred at any moment," after an Israeli military spokesperson publicly accused him of being a member of Hamas.The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression called out the "blatant assault on journalists." Colleagues of Al-Sharif emphasised his dedication to frontline journalism and exposing the truth in Gaza.Mohamed Moawad, Al Jazeera's managing editor, told the BBC that al-Sharif and the other journalists were targeted in their tent, making it clear that they were not covering from the front lines but were victims of an attack on media personnel.Early this January, after a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, al-Sharif drew widespread attention when, during a live broadcast, he removed his body armour while surrounded by dozens of Gaza residents celebrating the temporary halt in hostilities.ANAS AL-SHARIF AND ISRAEL'S ATTACK ON AL-SHIFA HOSPITALIn October 2024, the Israeli military released intelligence documents recovered from Gaza to reveal that al-Sharif was not only a reporter but also an operative affiliated with Hamas's military wing.According to the IDF, these documents, such as personnel lists, training records, and salary sheets, provide evidence that al-Sharif and several other Al Jazeera journalists were integrated into terrorist organisations like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.The IDF claims that the Al Jazeera journalists, including al-Sharif, played active roles in Hamas's propaganda machinery, especially in northern Gaza, and that their presence at certain locations was linked to terrorist activities.This claim was cited as justification for the Israeli airstrike on a tent outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City."Anas al-Sharif was recruited to Hamas on December 3, 2013, and served as the commander of a rocket launch squad in the northern sector. Personal number: 305342," Israeli journalist Itay Blumental posted on X, sharing purported documents seized from Gaza that revealed al-Sharif's links with the Hamas."On April 7, 2017, A-Sharif was injured in his left eye and ear during a Hamas training session — he remained in the organization with a salary of 200 dollars per month. In another document seized in Gaza by the IDF, A-Sharif's name appears in the phone directory of the Nukhba battalion in eastern Jabalia," wrote Blumental.Blumental was called out by people who claimed the documents were fake. Al Jazeera Media Network condemned the "targeted assassination of its correspondents".But Israel maintained that al-Sharif was a terrorist and a press badge was no shield."A terrorist with a camera is still a terrorist! I commend our security forces for eliminating the terrorist Anas Jamal Mahmoud al-Sharif, who operated under the guise of an Al Jazeera journalist," remarked Danny Danon, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations.Though Anas al-Sharif was killed, the debate over him being the voice of victims of Gaza and a Hamas-linked terrorist, as alleged by Israel since October 2024, will continue.- EndsMust Watch
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News18
15 minutes ago
- News18
Nepal Court denies release request of former Home Minister Lamichhane
Agency: Last Updated: August 11, 2025, 23:30 IST Representational image (Image: News18) Kathmandu [Nepal], August 11 (ANI): A district court in Nepal ordered former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane to remain in judicial custody, rejecting his application for release on cooperative Rupandehi District Court late on Monday evening hearing over the application filed by Lamichhane, also the founder of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) upheld the judicial custody.A single bench of Judge Narayan Prasad Sapkota refused to let Lamichhane out, though he had submitted an application for release in connection with the Butwan-based Supreme Saving and Credit Cooperative fraud case.'Since the amount of money owed to him has not been determined, and the process of examining witnesses and other evidence in the case is still pending, and since the documents attached to the file do not show that the petitioner is in compliance with Section 71 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 2074 BS, it does not appear that he can file the petition with the bank guarantee as requested, and the date is fixed, it should be done in accordance with the law," the order from the court with the application, the former Home Minister also had submitted a bank guarantee equivalent to the amount attributed to him in the case. He submitted bank security worth Nepali Rupees (NRs) 27.4 a bench led by Judge Bashisht Kumar Ghimire at the same court had set his bail at NRs 10 million on charges of fraud and organised crime for the embezzlement of money from the Supreme the court order, Lamichhane challenged the decision and approached the High Court, seeking cancellation of bail and a regular hearing date. However, the Butwal bench of the High Court in Tulsipur ordered his continued detention for judicial investigation on April has been in the Rupandehi prison since April 4 and had applied on August 4. Advocates Narayan Kandel, Rajendra Thapa and Mahendra Pandey argued for his release under provisions of the National Criminal Procedure Act, while government attorneys opposed the move, citing the Supreme Court's earlier decision to uphold his cooperative fraud case alleges that Lamichhane and others transferred over NRs109 million from the Butwal-based Supreme Cooperative to Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd, misappropriating the have been filed in Kaski (Suryadarshan Cooperative), Chitwan (Sahara Cooperative), Kathmandu (Swarnalaxmi Cooperative) and Parsa (Sano Paila Cooperative). In all the districts, Lamichhane has been accused of diverting deposits to Gorkha Media Network, which ran the now-defunct Galaxy 4K Television. Lamichhane was arrested from his party office in Kathmandu on 18 October, 2024 by a team from the Central Investigation Bureau on charges of organised crime and misappropriation of cooperative December 22, 2024, the Kaski District Police had formally lodged the case against Lamichhane on cases of fraud, organised crime and money laundering. The District Government Attorney's Office filed the charge sheet against Lamichhane and others at the Kaski District Court in connection with the Suryadarshan Cooperative fraud is accused of illegally amassing over NRs 270 million, with the money allegedly originating from Surya Darshan Savings and Loan Cooperative. The case also alleges that Lamichhane has not disclosed the source of NRs 2,78,944,705, which is considered to be of illicit post as Member of Parliament has also been suspended after the District Attorney's Office filed a case of organised crime and money laundering. The former Home Minister and founder of RSP, the fourth largest party in the parliament, has denied the charges of money laundering, cooperative fraud, and organised crime in his statement to the Kaski District 2024, a parliamentary committee formed to investigate the cooperative scam prepared and tabled a report in parliament on September 16, 2024. This report indicted Lamichhane for embezzling millions of rupees as part of the seven-membered committee formed on May 28 last year was tabled in the parliament, which was formally endorsed by the house session. The report concludes that millions of rupees injected into Gorkha Media came from cooperatives which were traded on the basis of forged Home Minister Lamichhane had worked in Gorkha Media, the parent company of now defunct Galaxy 4K Television, as managing director at the time when cooperative savings were invested, violating cooperative legislation. Incumbent parliamentarian also had clarified that he was engaged in Gorkha Media taking a sweat later in the year 2022 entered politics, announcing the formation of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, and entered the federal parliament as a parliamentarian, contesting the election the same year. The television, failing to pay salaries to its staff, shut its formal operation since last committee in its report has also recommended that the government take legal action against everyone involved in the transfer of money to Gorkha Media from various cooperatives. Millions of rupees were inducted into Gorkha Media from various cooperatives, Suryadarshan from Pokhara, Supreme from Butwal, Swarnalaxmi from Kathmandu, Sahara Chitwan from Chitwan and Sanopaila from report has stated that embezzlement of amounts was completed in the active involvement of GB Rai, Kumar Ramtel, Rabi Lamichhane (then managing director), and Chhabi Lal Joshi. Rai and Lamichhane had operated a joint account in the bank and had issued cheques amounting to millions, which shows their involvement, the committee report includes.'Every company has its own objective and spirit. Promoters and shareholders are the ones with the main responsibilities in such institutions. Those in the role and responsibility as shareholders, promoters and managing directors cannot be allowed to not be responsible and accountable for the money received by the company," the report the investigation, the committee also had held inquiry session with former Home Minister and incumbent Chairperson of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Lamichhane for over 10 hours. Throughout the inquiry session he claimed to be unaware about the transfers that were made to the Gorkha Media originated from cooperatives, that too savings of about 50,000 arguing over the case, Lamichhane also claimed the Rabi Lamichhane who had borrowed money from Suryadarshan and Supreme Cooperatives also to be someone not in his knowledge. The committee had asked him a set of 50 questions about his alleged involvement in the the tabling and endorsement of the report, House Speaker Devraj Ghimire directed the government to implement the report of the parliamentary special inquiry committee formed to investigate misappropriation of savings of cooperatives. Speaker Ghimire then directed the Parliament Secretariat to send the report to the government for HoR had formed the committee headed by CPN-UML lawmaker Thapa on May 28, 2024 after Nepali Congress demanded formation of a parliamentary investigation committee saying Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane, who was then deputy prime minister and home minister, was involved in the misappropriation of cooperative savings. The HoR had initially given the committee three months and later extended its tenure by 15 Badu of Nepali Congress, Ishwari Neupane, Sabitra Bhusal of UML, Lekhnath Dahal of CPN (Maoist Center), Shishir Khanal of RSP, and Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan of Rastriya Prajatantra Party were members of the parliamentary committee. (ANI) view comments News agency-feeds Nepal Court denies release request of former Home Minister Lamichhane Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. 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Indian Express
15 minutes ago
- Indian Express
How Mohamed Salah keeps asking tough questions despite his superstar status
The death of one of the most prolific Palestinian footballers ever and the reaction to the news from one of the game's most popular players put an unlikely spotlight from the footballing world on the violence in Gaza. Last week, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) announced that 41-year-old forward Suleiman al-Obeid died in an Israeli attack in Southern Gaza. On Saturday, Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah – one of the most high-profile Arab sportspersons – criticised the tribute issued by UEFA, purportedly asking the European football body to acknowledge that al-Obeid had been killed during an Israeli attack in Gaza. 'Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?' he wrote on X. A news report by Reuters quoted al-Obeid's family, which consists of his widowed wife and five children, claiming that al-Obeid was queuing to collect food for his family when an Israeli tank shelling killed the 41-year-old. The PFA's statement relayed the same reasons for his demise. 'The number of footballers killed or who died from starvation has reached 421, including 103 children,' their statement read further. According to the United Nations human rights office, since May of this year, 1,373 Palestinians have now been killed while seeking food. Al-Obeid had represented the Palestine football team since 2007, turning up for his national side 24 times and scoring two goals. Throughout his career, he has been a regular in the domestic football league of Palestine, representing his club in Gaza City at the time when the conflict broke out in October 2023. Until late 2023, domestic football was ongoing in Palestine across multiple tiers and regions, which is where al-Obeid made his name. And according to the PFA, he scored more than 100 goals. He plied his trade with Markaz Shabab al-Am'ari in the occupied West Bank, and a variety of other teams in the league system in the country, including at Gaza Sports Club. His exploits earned him the 'Palestinian Pele' tag. Football has been among the most popular sports in the country, and their national team, which became a fully FIFA member in 1998, has stayed active despite the violence that has broken out in their country for the last 18 months. They have played 27 matches since October 2023, including at last year's AFC Asian Cup and in qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which ended for them in disappointment in June. They played their 'home' fixtures in other countries like Jordan and Malaysia. Salah has spoken on the Palestinian issue in the past. In October 2023, the Egyptian had posted a video pleading for peace. 'It is not always easy to speak in a time like this. There has been too much violence and too much heartbreak and brutality,' he had said. The 33-year-old, who is the third-highest goalscorer for Liverpool with 245 to his name in just over 400 games, has enjoyed a phenomenal amount of popularity in his home country, as well as in North Africa and the Gulf region. And having won over the people of Liverpool with his exploits on the field ('If he scores another few, I'll be Muslim too,' being a popular chant heard at Anfield over the last eight years), his fame in the UK has been significant too. Salah's soft-spoken image and through the way he observes his faith – in an interview with TIME that profiled him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, he said, 'I think we need to change the way we treat women in our culture.' – he has played a part in changing the attitudes of Britons towards Muslims. A Stanford University study in 2019 observed that in the Merseyside region of England, hate crimes against Muslims dropped by 18.9% after Salah arrived at Liverpool. Islamophobic social media posts also saw a decrease. But with Israel's war on Gaza, he is forced to juggle his popularity in two opposing parts of the world, perhaps why he has been restrained in his statements on the conflict, and also why it was a surprise for a player of his popularity to criticise UEFA on the subject.
The Hindu
15 minutes ago
- The Hindu
U.N., media groups condemn Israel's deadly strike on Al Jazeera team in Gaza
Condemnations poured in from the United Nations and media rights groups on Monday (August 11, 2025) 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. 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 U.N. human rights agency called a "grave breach of international humanitarian law". 'Attempt to silence' 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 on Monday. 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. Reporters Without Borders says nearly 200 journalists have been killed in the war, which was sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel. Israel prevents international reporters from entering Gaza, except on occasional tightly controlled trips with the military. The strike on the news team in Gaza City came days after the Israeli security cabinet had approved plans to sent troops into the area, a decision met with mounting domestic and international criticism. Israel's offensive has killed at least 61,499 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, figures the United Nations says are reliable. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
