
Who are the 5 Al Jazeera journalists killed in Israeli airstrike?
Among the fallen were Anas Al Sharif and Mohamemd Qreiqeh — reporters whose relentless frontlines coverage had been a vital thread in weaving the stories of the Gaza war into the global conversation. The journalists were inside a tent set up at the hospital's main gate, a sanctuary for those bearing witness to the war's harsh realities, when the strike turned that refuge into a scene of devastation.
Alongside Al Sharif and Qreiqeh, cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Moamen Aliwa, and their assistant Mohammed Noufal were also killed, their loss marking a grim toll on the journalistic community covering the conflict.
Their lives behind the camera were as compelling as the stories they told, revealing a profound commitment to humanity amidst conflict.
Mohammed Qreiqeh
The journalist left behind traces of his personal world on social media — snapshots of love and loss that now serve as a testament to the man behind the lens.
Mohammed Qreiqeh's pinned Instagram post featured a touching photo of himself with Zeina Ismail Al-Ghoul, the daughter of the Al Jazeera journalist killed just last month when an Israeli air attack struck their cat in the Shati refugee camp. His own daughter is also named Zeina. Tragically, with his death, both Zeinas are now fatherless.
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A post shared by Ù�ØÙ�د Ù�رÙ�Ù�ع (@mohammed_qraiqea)
In the post, Mohammed described Zeina's innocent recognition of her late father's image on a hospital wall. "She saw his picture on the wall of the Baptist hospital and said with utmost innocence, 'This is my father, Ismail!' This innocence stirred in us an overwhelming grief."
Another poignant post, dated November 5, 2024, features a video of Mohammed listening to a voice note from his daughter, Zina, who had memorised Surat Al-Fatiha while displaced.
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A post shared by Ù�ØÙ�د Ù�رÙ�Ù�ع (@mohammed_qraiqea)
Just days before his death, Mohammed's final Instagram post captured him engaging with Gaza's children amid the rubble, painting a heartbreaking picture of lost childhoods.
'These children were supposed to be on a summer leisure trip, visiting amusement parks and gardens, carrying their dreams in small bags, drawing their innocence on the sea sand,' he wrote.
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A post shared by Ù�ØÙ�د Ù�رÙ�Ù�ع (@mohammed_qraiqea)
Another touching post from earlier this year shows Mohammed meeting his children after 15 months apart due to ongoing Israeli aggression — moments filmed by none other than Anas Al Sharif, who himself would later be martyred alongside Qreiqeh. The post reads: 'May God have mercy on our heroes who carried the truth with their voices.'
Check out the post here:
Ù�شاÙ�د Ù�ؤثرة Ù�Ù�صØÙ�Ù� اÙ�Ø´Ù� Ù�Ù�Ù�د Ù�ØÙ�د Ù�رÙ�Ù�ع Ù�Ù� بداÙ�Ø© اÙ�عاÙ� اÙ�جارÙ�Ø� Ù�Ù�Ù� Ù�Ù�ذÙ�Ù� أبÙ�اءÙ� Ù�Ù�Ù�رة اÙ�Ø£Ù�Ù�Ù� بعد Ù�راÙ� داÙ� 15 Ø´Ù�رÙ�ا بسبب اÙ�عÙ� Ù�دÙ�اÙ� اÙ�إسرائÙ�Ù�Ù� عÙ�Ù� ذÙ� Ù�زة.
Ù�ذÙ� اÙ�Ù�ØØ¸Ø§Ø° Ù�Ø«Ù�Ù�Ù�ا زÙ�Ù�Ù�Ù� اÙ�صØÙ�Ù� Ø£Ù�س اÙ�شرÙ�Ù�Ø� اÙ�ذÙ� اسذÙ� Ù�Ø´Ù�د اÙ�Ù�Ù�Ù� Ø¥Ù�Ù� جاÙ�ب Ù�ØÙ�د.
رØÙ� اÙ�Ù�Ù� أبطاÙ�Ù�ا اÙ�ذÙ�Ù� ØÙ�Ù�Ù�ا اÙ�ØÙ�Ù�Ù�Ø© بصÙ�ذÙ�Ù� pic.twitter.com/53K701Fslx
— Ù�ØÙ�د Ù�رÙ�Ù�ع (@Mohamed_qraiqea) August 11, 2025
Anas Al Sharif
Just a year ago, Anas Al Sharif shared a joyful update with his followers: 'The journalist colleague Mohammed Quraiqa joins the ranks of Al Jazeera correspondents in the Gaza Strip.'
اÙ�زÙ�Ù�Ù� اÙ�صØÙ�Ù� Ù�ØÙ�د Ù�رÙ�Ù�ع Ù�Ù�ضÙ� Ù�Ù�Ù�Ù�بة Ù�راسÙ�Ù� اÙ�جزÙ�رة Ù�Ù� Ù�طاع ذزة.. #اÙ�ذذطÙ�Ø©_Ù�سذÙ�رة pic.twitter.com/fMpHjCKN9D
— Ø£Ù�س اÙ�شرÙ�Ù� Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) August 15, 2024
It was more than a welcome — it was the beginning of a shared mission. The two men would work side by side, telling the stories of a besieged land with unflinching honesty.
Today, both Anas and Mohammed lie among Gaza's martyrs, their courage immortalised in the stories they risked — and ultimately gave — their lives to tell.
Israel's military claimed that Al Sharif was a Hamas cell leader, but rights advocates, fellow journalists, and press freedom groups said there was no evidence to support that. To them, Anas was targetted for his relentless frontline reporting — the kind that made the war's devastation impossible to ignore. He made the war seen and felt in every corner of the world.
Anas's commitment was not just professional; it was deeply human. A video from July 20, now widely shared, shows him breaking down during a live broadcast as he reported on worsening starvation in Gaza.
In the clip, his voice falters, eyes brimming with grief. Someone behind the camera gently urges him on: 'Keep going, Anas. You are our voice.'
The eyes of Gaza
The loss extended beyond correspondents to those who worked quietly but powerfully behind the camera.
Moamen Aliwa, a cameraman whose lens captured the war's most searing images, understood that a single frame could bear witness in ways words could not.
Just two weeks ago, he posted a reel of a grieving mother's wails as a man walked beside her, carrying the small, white-wrapped body of her dead child.
Check out the reel below:
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A post shared by Moamen �� (@moamen.elew3)
Nine weeks earlier, Moamen had posted a simple photo of himself, smiling. holding a paper cup in one hand and a phone in another — a fleeting moment of normalcy. No one knew it would be his last photo, his final proof of a life lived with purpose, now frozen in time.
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A post shared by Moamen �� (@moamen.elew3)
Another cameraman, Ibrahim Zaher, also fell in the attack. Like Moamen, his life and work are now fixed in memory at the age he left this world — an unchanging image of youth, talent, and dedication cut short.
Mohammed Noufal, the team's assistant, was the quiet backbone of the operation — the one who carried equipment through rubble-strewn streets, set up the live feeds, and ensured that the cameras kept rolling even when power failed.
He rarely appeared in front of the lens, but without him, much of the coverage the world saw would never have been possible.
While Noufal and Zaher had no social media presence, their impact will last a lifetime — etched into every image, broadcast, and memory their work helped create.
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Middle East Eye
36 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Gaza journalists report through their grief once again at slain friends' funeral
With press vests laid atop their bodies, six more Palestinian journalists targeted and killed by Israeli forces were laid to rest on Monday. It was a scene that had played out devastatingly frequently over the past 22 months: reporters with the word "press" proudly displayed on their jackets gathering to grieve and pray for slain colleagues. Anas al-Sharif, Middle East Eye contributor Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed al-Khalidi were the latest names among 238 journalists killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since the war began in October 2023. Their media tent, set up outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, was deliberately targeted late on Sunday night. Medhat al-Sawalha, whose own tent is metres away, saw the aftermath of the attack. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'I went out to buy something from a stall,' he told Middle East Eye, adding that he returned to see Sharif and his colleagues' tent on fire. 'I didn't hear the sound of the explosion, but at home they told me they heard it.' He rushed over, only to find Sharif and several others dead and dismembered. 'Anas, may God have mercy on him, I carried him in my hands,' said Sawalha. 'I carried him in my hands.' He said he saw another body next to Sharif's, which he couldn't identify. The body was missing a head. 'We were closer than family' Hours after the attack, Palestinian journalists returned to the encampment. The structure of the tent had been completely blown off, with mattresses and destroyed belongings strewn across the floor. The reporters mourned and documented - a familiar blurring of the personal and professional that Palestinian journalists have endured since the war on Gaza began. It's a feeling that Mohammed Abu Namous, a broadcast journalist in Gaza, is used to. 'Imagine, yesterday when I arrived at the targeted site in the middle of the night, I went live on air,' he told MEE. 'With one hand I was speaking to the channel live on air. With the other hand, I was trying to reassure my family through text messages on WhatsApp that I'm fine.' 'Imagine, yesterday when I arrived at the targeted site in the middle of the night, I went live on air' - Mohammed Abu Namous, broadcast journalist Addressing journalists around the world, Abu Namous said the least they could do was protect their Palestinian colleagues from Israeli attacks. 'What is the difference between a foreign journalist and a journalist in the Gaza Strip?' he asked. 'In the eyes of the Israeli occupation, all Palestinians are the ones who must be killed at any moment.' Ramadan Abu Sakran was a colleague and close friend of Sharif, Qreiqeh and Zaher. 'We were closer than family because we slept in the same place, in the same surroundings, and shared our food and drink,' he told MEE. 'We lived through the same fear, the same atmosphere of being targeted. We used to cover the same targeted sites together, and we would console each other about the scenes we saw daily in the places we covered together.' He said Sharif was full of laughter and jokes, often trying to lift the spirits of his friends and fellow reporters. He even joked, after Israel's army issued a threat last year stating that it would target him and fellow Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat, that his friends should stay away from him. 'We'd say, 'If we're going to die, we'll die together.' That's how we used to comfort each other,' said Abu Sakran. Unsubstantiated Israeli claims Shabat was killed in March, in an attack which deliberately targeted his vehicle in northern Gaza. 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 claims about journalists, which have been strongly rejected by the Committee to Protect Journalists. It made the same claims about Shabat in March. Al Jazeera, for whom Sharif was one of the most prominent on-screen reporters based in Gaza, described him as 'one of Gaza's bravest journalists". It said the attack was "a desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza". A photojournalist surveys the wreckage a day after Israeli forces targeted a media tent, killing six journalists near al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City (Mohammed al-Hajjar/MEE) 'These journalists were the ones who conveyed the clear truth without embellishment or distortion to the entire world,' Tamer Daloul, a correspondent for Al-Ghad TV in Gaza City, told MEE. 'It should be noted that Anas and Mohammed Qreiqeh remained steadfast in northern Gaza during the displacement and division between the north and the south,' he added. 'They insisted on staying inside the Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, in a tent, and later moved to al-Shifa medical complex, in the well-known tent [where they were killed].' Daloul said the Israeli targeting of these journalists, among the over 200 others, leaves him fearful - not just for himself, but for his family too. 'It left us honestly not knowing, should we continue covering, should we stop, should we keep going live, are we protected?' he said. 'We no longer sleep at our families' homes for fear of being targeted. 'And yet, despite all this, we try to keep going and continue doing everything we can.'


Middle East Eye
36 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Mohammed Qreiqeh: The brave MEE contributor who never lost hope
Mohammed Qreiqeh was well-known for his eloquent way of speaking, a skill he displayed to the world in a live TV report just moments before Israel killed him. The 33-year-old Al Jazeera correspondent was one of six Palestinian journalists killed in a direct and deliberate Israeli strike on their media tent beside Gaza City's al-Shifa hospital on Sunday. His last moments on air were spent reporting on the dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where months of Israeli siege have left two million Palestinians starving. Born in 1992 in Gaza City's Shujaiya, Qreiqeh was a graduate of the Islamic University of Gaza. Qreiqeh contributed to several publications, including Middle East Eye, before he began working at Al Jazeera. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters MEE journalist Maha Hussaini recalled working alongside him for several months after Israel's war on Gaza began in October 2023, and being impressed by his bravery and commitment. "I was forcibly displaced in southern Gaza, while he remained in the north, refusing to evacuate or abandon his responsibilities there," she explained. "Mohammed would go into the field to gather testimonies and eyewitness accounts in places I couldn't reach due to the Israeli separation of the north from the south, and he even felt responsible for informing me about crimes that the media had not yet learned about. He felt it was his duty to expose what was happening." Israel has killed 238 Palestinian journalists in Gaza since the beginning of the war, according to the Gaza government media office, and Qreiqeh knew many of his slain colleagues. In one clip recently aired, Qreiqeh was seen making a tribute to Ismail al-Ghoul, a journalist killed a year earlier. Qreiqeh read a heartfelt poem, wearing his late friend's press helmet. Qreiqeh died near al-Shifa hospital - the same place his mother was killed a year ago. He discovered his mother's remains in early April last year, following Israel's two-week assault on the hospital. The Palestinian journalist Mohammed Qraqe'a whose mother was killed by the Israeli occupation forces whist attacking the Shefa hospital in Gaza. Mohammed found his mother following the withdrawal of occupation forces after two weeks of attacking the hospital. — Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) April 3, 2024 In one clip, he revisits his mother's resting place, where she was killed by Israeli forces, and speaks to eyewitnesses of the brutal invasion. Four months later, Qreiqeh would lose his brother, who succumbed to wounds in an Israeli assault. Much like other journalists working under the stress of Israeli attacks, Qreiqeh had been separated from his family for months, with one widely shared video showing him weeping as he listens to his daughter's voice. War on Gaza: Survivors recount harrowing Israeli field executions Read More » Shortly before his killing, Qreiqeh spent some of his final moments inside a car answering questions about the Gaza war during a livestream. Commenting on the recent Israeli announcement that it would totally take over Gaza, he expressed some rare hope: "God willing - and I am optimistic - that the coming days will bring news of at least ending this massacre and exhausting misery." "God willing, the coming days will be filled with peace, calm and happiness, and the war ends. We have all lost something... I'm not talking about the loss of our homes. The one who built a stone is able to rebuild it, there's no problem. God will always give back," he added. "However, we have all suffered from losses in Gaza... Each of us has a story, and each story is more difficult than the other. In the end, it is God's plan and we should surrender to God's will." His final words to followers watching his livestream were words of appreciation and apologies for not responding to all of his comments.


Sharjah 24
41 minutes ago
- Sharjah 24
5 journalists killed in Israeli strike in Gaza
The Israeli military admitted in a statement to targeting Anas al-Sharif, the reporter it labelled as a "terrorist" affiliated with Hamas. The attack was the latest to see journalists targeted in the 22-month war in Gaza, with around 200 media workers killed over the course of the conflict, according to media watchdogs. "Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif has been killed alongside four colleagues in a targeted Israeli attack on a tent housing journalists in Gaza City," the Qatar-based broadcaster said. "Al-Sharif, 28, was killed on Sunday after a tent for journalists outside the main gate of the hospital was hit. The well-known Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent reportedly extensively from northern Gaza." The channel said that five of its staff members were killed during the strike on a tent in Gaza City, listing the others as Mohammed Qreiqeh along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. The Israeli military confirmed that it had carried out the attack, saying it had struck Al Jazeera's al-Sharif and calling him a "terrorist" who "posed as a journalist". "A short while ago, in Gaza City, the IDF struck the terrorist Anas Al-Sharif, who posed as a journalist for the Al Jazeera network," it said on Telegram, using an acronym for the military. "Anas Al-Sharif served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organisation and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops," it added. Al-Sharif was one of the channel's most recognisable faces working on the ground in Gaza, providing daily reports in regular coverage. Following a press conference by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, where the premier defended approving a new offensive in Gaza, al-Sharif posted messages on X describing "intense, concentrated Israeli bombardment" on Gaza City. One of his final messages included a short video showing nearby Israeli strikes hitting Gaza City. In July, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement calling for his protection as it accused the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee of stepping up online attacks on the reporter by alleging that he was a Hamas terrorist. Following the attack, the CPJ said it was "appalled" to learn of the journalists' deaths. "Israel's pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom," said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. "Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable." The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate condemned what it described as a "bloody crime" of assassination. Israel and Al Jazeera have had a contentious relationship for years, with Israeli authorities banning the channel in the country and raiding its offices following the latest war in Gaza. Qatar, which partly funds Al Jazeera, has hosted an office for the Hamas political leadership for years and been a frequent venue for indirect talks between Israel and the militant group. Sealed off With Gaza sealed off, many media groups around the world, including AFP, depend on photo, video and text coverage of the conflict provided by Palestinian reporters. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in early July that more than 200 journalists had been killed in Gaza since the war began, including several Al Jazeera journalists. International criticism is growing over the plight of the more than two million Palestinian civilians in Gaza, with UN agencies and rights groups warning that a famine is unfolding in the territory. The targeted strike comes as Israel announced plans to expand its military operations on the ground in Gaza, with Netanyahu saying on Sunday that the new offensive was set to target the remaining Hamas strongholds there. He also announced a plan to allow more foreign journalists to report inside Gaza with the military, as he laid out his vision for victory in the territory. A UN official warned the Security Council that Israel's plans to control Gaza City risked "another calamity" with far-reaching consequences. "If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction," UN Assistant Secretary General Miroslav Jenca told the Security Council.