Israel kills Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza aistrike
Al Jazeera says its journalists Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh were killed along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa when Israel bombed a journalists' tent in Gaza City, near Al-Shifa Hospital.
The attack killed the whole of Al Jazeera's reporting team in Gaza City.
"Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif has been killed alongside three colleagues in what appears to be a targeted Israeli attack, the director of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City has said," 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 reported extensively from northern Gaza."
Israel had been openly threatening to target al-Sharif for several weeks, claiming he was a Hamas operative, which al-Sharif and Al Jazeera had denied.
Israel's military said it had struck an Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza, 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. 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," the military said on Telegram.
Just before his death, al-Sharif posted on social media about relentless bombings around Gaza City.
Another message was posted on his X account after the bombing, saying "This was what our dear beloved Anas requested to be published upon his martyrdom".
"This is my will and my final message. If these words of mine reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice," the post reads.
"Allah knows I gave every effort and all my strength to be a support and a voice for my people, ever since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabalia refugee camp."
The post ends: "Do not forget Gaza … And do not forget me in your righteous prayers for forgiveness and acceptance."
Weeks ago, the Al Jazeera network denounced the Israeli military for what it called a "campaign of incitement" against its reporters in Gaza, especially al-Sharif.
"The Network considers this incitement a dangerous attempt to justify the targeting of its journalists in the field," it said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) previously said it was "deeply alarmed" by threats and smears made by Israel against al-Sharif, and called on the international community to protect him, predicting an assassination attempt would be made.
Palestinian journalists' groups have also condemned the killings.
A press freedom group and a UN expert previously warned that al-Sharif's life was in danger due to his reporting from Gaza.
UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan said last month Israel's claims against him were unsubstantiated.
In July, the Committee to Protect Journalists urged the international community to protect al-Sharif.
The CPJ says at least 186 journalists and media workers have been killed inside Gaza during the war, since October 7 2023.
ABC with wires
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ABC News
19 minutes ago
- ABC News
Peter Greste on Israel's strike on journalists
Sam Hawley: Earlier this week, five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza. Israel confirmed it had targeted one of the men it says was the head of a Hamas terrorist cell. His employer denies that. So who's telling the truth? Today, former Al Jazeera journalist and executive director of the Alliance for Journalists' Freedom, Peter Greste, on the problems that arise when foreign reporters are blocked from covering a war. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily. News report: This is Al Jazeera breaking news just coming out. Sad breaking news out of Gaza where Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif has just been killed in what appears to be a targeted Israeli strike. Anas was killed after a tent for journalists was hit outside the main gate of the hospital. The 28-year-old was a key source of news from Gaza City and the north for international audiences since Israel's war on the strip began some 22 months ago. Sam Hawley: Peter, in Gaza on Monday, there was a funeral procession for five of them was Anas al-Sharif. Just tell me about him. Who was he? Peter Greste: Anas was one of the most prominent, most recognisable Palestinian journalists and videographers. He was working for Al Jazeera Arabic. He was a 28-year-old journalist, married, he had two kids. He was part of a Reuters team that won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. Clearly someone who had a very high profile, but he was also accused by the Israelis of being associated with Hamas. News report: Israel says it deliberately targeted their tent and have accused one of the correspondents, Anas al-Sharif, of belonging to Hamas. The UN, the Al Jazeera network and the Committee to Protect Journalists have condemned the attack and rejected the accusation, saying there is no credible evidence of this. Sam Hawley: Yeah, the Israeli military says that Anas al-Sharif was a Hamas operative who'd previously actually launched rockets at Israel. That's their claim. Peter Greste: That is their claim. We haven't seen any evidence to substantiate that. The Israelis have shown documents that claim to show some kind of connection between Anas and Hamas. Those documents certainly don't support the claim that he was an active member of Hamas. But there are a couple of points I think I really need to make. The first is that any journalist working in a place like Gaza is going to have a relationship with the power that controls a region like that. You can't avoid it. I mean, you're going to have their numbers in your contacts books, you're going to have a record of phone calls to them, of communications with them, you're going to have meetings with them. And particularly when they are the power that controls movement in a place like Gaza. So you're inevitably going to have to have a close working relationship with them. That doesn't make you an active member. And we haven't seen any evidence from the Israelis that he was actively involved in terrorist operations. It seems highly circumstantial at best. And even if he was in some way involved with Hamas, that is not the justification for a bombing, a targeted killing like this. Sam Hawley: He'd even written Anas his own obituary, his own will, I suppose, if you like, fearing that he would be killed, didn't he? Peter Greste: Yes, he did. And that was after the Israeli authorities had already accused him of being associated with Hamas. He knew that there was a very good chance that he would be targeted. It seems that he was right in that regard. I guess the thing is that whatever the Israelis say about Anas in particular, there is a really disturbing pattern of attacks, of strikes against working journalists. There have been bomb attacks on the homes of journalists. There've been attacks on journalists who've been working with clearly marked body armour and in clearly marked vehicles. The Israelis have always accused them of being involved in terrorism in some form. And we don't have any specific evidence, the Israelis have never produced any clear-cut evidence to substantiate those allegations. The Israelis, of course, always deny that they target journalists, always deny that they target civilians. But what we have is a clear pattern of circumstantial evidence that, at the very least, demands independent investigation and independent inquiry to get to the bottom of the matter, because it is very difficult from the outside to look at that circumstantial evidence and to agree that the Israelis are, in fact, simply operating to attack and kill terrorists. Sam Hawley: Well, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, in the 22 months of the war, more than 180 Palestinian journalists have actually been killed. Peter Greste: That's a huge number. And again, to be clear, the CPJ's numbers are very, very conservative. Other press freedom organisations put the number at far higher. But regardless of how you do the maths, again, it's hard to escape the conclusion that the Israelis are targeting journalists. Sam Hawley: Mm. Alright, well, Peter, of course, you worked for Al Jazeera leading up to your imprisonment in Egypt. It does so much good journalism, we know that, right around the world, but Israel accuses it of being the mouthpiece of Hamas and it actually banned the network operating in Israel last year. What do we know about the network's perspective, particularly within the Middle East? Peter Greste: Look, I've never seen anything to suggest that Al Jazeera... Certainly, while I was working with them, never saw anything to suggest that the network has a policy of supporting Hamas or Islamist organisations. But having said that, you've got to remember that any news organisation tends to view the world through the lens of the place where its headquarters is. The ABC sees and understands and interprets the world, through an Australian-centric view. The same with the BBC, the same with CNN and The New York Times. They all see the world from the perspective of the country that they're anchored in, and that is the case with Al Jazeera, which understands and interprets the world from Qatar. Now, Al Jazeera also has a really extensive network of correspondents across the Middle East, in particular. They've got very strong relationships with groups all over Gaza. And so, inevitably, it is going to be taking a view from inside Gaza. And remember, too, that if you're sitting... If you're a Palestinian, you're sitting at the sharp end of the Israeli attacks over the past couple of years, you're also going to see and report on the effects of those attacks from a position that's incredibly sympathetic to the people that you're working with. That's just a function of perspective. It does not invalidate the truth of what they're reporting. It does not make them propagandists for Hamas. It simply makes them reporters who are covering the story on the ground as they see and experience it. There are going to be critics, and Israel and a lot of Israeli supporters will accuse them of being involved in promoting Hamas propaganda. But I think that's a pretty long bow to draw, particularly when it seems as though anybody who is creating a narrative that runs counter to the Israeli view of things has been accused of being propagandists or supporters of Hamas in some way. Sam Hawley: Mm. Well, Peter, as we know, the only journalists who are able to cover the war on the ground in Gaza are Palestinian, that is, the people that are actually living there, because Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza. That helps Israel, does it, control the narrative? Is that why it does it? Peter Greste: Well, yeah. It's certainly hard to come to any other conclusion. The Israelis, as you said, have repeatedly refused to let foreign journalists in. And just to be clear, I'm one of the earliest signatories on a petition by almost 1,000 international journalists demanding access for foreign correspondents into Gaza. That's not because we want to diminish the work of the Palestinians or somehow claim that they are inherently biased. But the only way we're going to get information that people will be able to trust, that we'll be able to see as independent of either the Palestinians or Hamas or the Israelis, is if we are able to get foreign correspondents into Gaza, working independently as witnesses and reporters. Now, the Israelis, as you said, have repeatedly refused that. They say it's because they can't give security guarantees to the foreign correspondents. But it also does seem very much to be about controlling the flow of information and the reporting that comes out of there. Sam Hawley: So, without international journalists on the ground, as you say, it does allow doubts to be raised about the legitimacy of the images and the reporting that emerges from there. Peter, we saw that most recently, I guess, with this case with The New York Times, where it published a photo of an emaciated child with its mother, which Israel then claimed was fake. Just tell me about that. The New York Times did have to clarify that image. Peter Greste: That's right. They said that the image was, in fact, of a child with a pre-existing condition that was exacerbated by hunger, by starvation. And I think that underlines the central point, that it's incredibly difficult for news organisations like Al Jazeera, and The New York Times, the BBC, or even the ABC, to report accurately on what's going on there without having people on the ground who are capable of verifying and following up those sorts of images and those sorts of details. Sam Hawley: Benjamin Netanyahu this week accused the international press of having bought Hamas's propaganda hook, line and sinker. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister: Everything that I told you could be verified easily, but it hasn't. And the international press has bought hook, line and sinker. Hamas statistics, Hamas claims, Hamas forgeries and Hamas photographs. Sam Hawley: I mean, he's threatening to sue The New York Times, although the paper does stick by its reporting. It does defend its reporting. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister: I'm looking right now into the possibility of a governmental suit against The New York Times, because this is outrageous. It's the kind of malignant lies that were levelled at the Jewish people in the Middle Ages, we won't suffer. We won't allow it to go unchallenged. And this is the purpose of this press conference. Peter Greste: Yeah, and again, the answer would be simply just for the Israelis to allow foreign journalists into Gaza to work alongside the Palestinians to be able to report freely and unhindered. And that's the easiest way of resolving this crisis. Sam Hawley: Just tell me how it works now, though. How do media outlets like The New York Times or the ABC, for that matter, verify the images that are actually coming out from the journalists on the ground in Gaza? How can they be certain of the veracity of the information or the images that are being provided? Peter Greste: There's a whole host of tools that news organisations will use. They'll use the metadata associated with the images to confirm locations and times of particular shots. They'll also use other clues in the photographs that can confirm the time and location of the shots, position of the sun, shadows, and other details in the background of the photographs and so on. And they can generally do a pretty good job. But that kind of verification, as I said, is never going to be a substitute for being there on the ground and being able to take the photographs yourself. Sam Hawley: Well, Peter, as an international correspondent or a former correspondent, yourself, you have covered a number of conflicts. The work is vital, though, as you found, of course, when you were jailed in Egypt and at other times, it can be incredibly dangerous, can't it? Peter Greste: Yes, and I've not only been in prison myself, but I've also lost friends and colleagues in covering these kinds of conflicts. Journalists who go there know and understand the risks that they're taking. The journalists that are covering these places are highly trained, often highly experienced, and they know full well what is at stake. You've got to let the journalists themselves make informed choices about whether or not they're willing to go. And if they are willing to go, then they need to be given the freedom to do it. Sam Hawley: And history shows us how important that is, right? From Vietnam to Iraq and beyond. Peter Greste: Yeah, absolutely. And we've seen reporting change the way that governments respond to conflicts. We saw the way that the public turned against the Vietnam War over time because of the reporting. We've seen the way that the public has turned against the wars in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. That only comes from good reporting. Sometimes the governments don't always like it, but that's a part of the way that democracy works. Sam Hawley: All right. Well, Peter, as you mentioned, news organisations and journalists across the world, including the ABC, are calling on Israel to allow journalists to move in and out of Gaza to report from there. How important is that at this particular point now? Peter Greste: Look, I think it's increasingly vital. We've got claims and counterclaims about the levels of starvation and malnutrition that are taking place inside Gaza. As you've mentioned earlier, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, has repeatedly accused the foreign press of swallowing Hamas propaganda hook, line and sinker. The only way we can get to the truth of the matter is by having independent eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza reporting what they see is taking place. Palestinian journalists are doing incredible work, but they will always be seen as vulnerable to allegations that they are working as Hamas propagandists and not independent eyewitnesses. It's unfortunate, but foreign correspondents are the only ones capable of doing that. Sam Hawley: Peter Greste is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Journalists' Freedom and a Professor of Journalism at Macquarie University. This episode was produced by Sydney Pead. Audio production by Sam Dunn. Our supervising producer is David Coady. I'm Sam Hawley. Thanks for listening.
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Israel military says approved plan for new Gaza offensive
The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had approved the framework for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas condemned what it called "aggressive" Israeli ground incursions in Gaza City. The approval for the expanded offensive comes days after Israel's security cabinet called for the seizure of Gaza's largest city, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory. Israeli armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir "approved the main framework for the IDF's operational plan in the Gaza Strip," a statement released by the army said. Prime Benjamin Minister Netanyahu's government has not provided a precise timetable for when Israeli troops will enter Gaza City, where thousands have taken refuge after fleeing previous offensives. Ismail Al-Thawabta, director general of the Hamas government media office in Gaza, told AFP on Wednesday that "the Israeli occupation forces continue to carry out aggressive incursions in Gaza City." "These assaults represent a dangerous escalation aimed at imposing a new reality on the ground by force, through a scorched-earth policy and the complete destruction of civilian property," he added. Sabah Fatoum, 51, who lives in a tent in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City told AFP by phone that "the explosions are massive" in the area. There are "many air strikes and tanks are advancing in the southern area of Tal al-Hawa with drones above our heads," she said. "The tanks are still there, and I saw dozens of civilians fleeing" to the west of the city, she added. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, with the residential neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra hit "with very heavy air strikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings". Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Israeli strikes or fire had killed at least 35 people across Gaza on Wednesday. - 'Just escaped death' - AFP footage from Gaza City on Tuesday showed Palestinians fleeing Israeli strikes on the Zeitoun and Asqoola using overladen carts, vans and bikes. "I didn't bring a mattress or anything and we just escaped death and now we're running away and we don't know where to go," said displaced Palestinian Fidaa Saad. Israel's plans to expand its offensive into Gaza City come as diplomacy aimed at securing an elusive ceasefire and hostage release deal has stalled for weeks, after the latest round of negotiations broke down in July. Egypt said Tuesday it was working with fellow Gaza mediators Qatar and the United States to broker a 60-day truce "with the release of some hostages and some Palestinian detainees, and the flow of humanitarian and medical assistance to Gaza without restrictions, without conditions". Hamas said early Wednesday that a senior delegation had arrived in Cairo for "preliminary talks" with Egyptian officials. Israel's plans to expand the Gaza war have sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition. Reserve and retired pilots who served in the Israeli air force on Tuesday rallied in Tel Aviv to demand an end to the conflict. "This war and expansion will only cause the death of the hostages, death of more Israeli soldiers, and death of many more innocent Palestinians in Gaza," said Guy Poran, a former Israeli air force pilot. - Dire conditions - UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 235 people including 106 children have died of hunger since the war began in October 2023, with many cases recorded in recent weeks. Netanyahu on Tuesday revived calls to "allow" Palestinians to leave Gaza, telling Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS that "we are not pushing them out, but we are allowing them to leave". Past calls to resettle Gazans outside of the war-battered territory, including from US President Donald Trump, have sparked concern among Palestinians and condemnation from the international community. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's offensive has killed at least 61,722 Palestinians, according to figures from the health ministry in Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.
News.com.au
11 hours ago
- News.com.au
Palestinian mother 'destroyed' after image used to deny Gaza starvation
Palestinian-Canadian Faiza Najjar was able to leave Gaza last year, but could not bring her four adult daughters with her. She watched from a distance as food shortages in the territory worsened. From Canada, where she lives with her six other children, Najjar pursued a months-long effort to get those she had left out of Gaza. She finally embraced her daughters and seven grandchildren when they arrived at Toronto's airport last month. But when clips of the emotional reunion were posted on social media, pro-Israeli accounts mocked her physical appearance saying it disproved claims of starvation in Gaza. "As a mother it just destroyed me," Najjar, 50, told AFP. Najjar did not claim that she went hungry while in Gaza. But as recently as this past weekend a post viewed more than 300,000 times across multiple platforms ridiculed her, erroneously implying she had just left Gaza. "Did you see what that woman looked like?" the poster said, pointing out Najjar does not look undernourished. United Nations agencies have warned that famine was unfolding in Gaza, with Israel severely restricting the entry of aid. Images of sick and emaciated Palestinian children have drawn international outrage. The allegation has been denied by Israel. "There is no starvation in Gaza," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month. The ridicule Najjar faced is part of a broader trend. Israeli anchors on the country's right-wing Channel 14 -- sometimes described as the Hebrew Fox News -- have laughed at "obese" mothers, alleging they steal their children's food. For Najjar, the fact that her family's reunion got caught up in a misinformation campaign was devastating. "After all the suffering, and losing everything, and nearly dying, some people still had the heart to mock them," she said, referring to her family. "My daughters lived there and their children went to sleep bombs outside their tents," Najjar said. Pro-Israeli commentators online also focused on her grandchildren's apparently healthy appearance. Najjar told AFP they received medical treatment, including renourishment, at a hospital in Jordan before flying to Canada. - Deflecting attention - Mert Can Bayar, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington, said the posts targeting Najjar are "just one little piece" of a misleading online narrative. Toronto's Mayor Olivia Chow removed a video she had posted on Instagram in which she welcomed arriving Palestinians because of abusive comments directed at the family. Comments on Chow's video also cited the family's physical appearance to broadly dismiss claims of starvation in Gaza. X's chatbot Grok also misidentified a 2025 AFP photo of an emaciated child in Gaza, incorrectly saying it was taken in Yemen seven years ago, fuelling further claims that reports of starvation in Gaza have been fabricated. Valerie Wirtschafter, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think-tank, said the claims were reminiscent of falsehoods that emerged weeks into the war alleging Palestinians had posed as so-called crisis actors and staged their injuries. Wirtschafter said the hoax narrative "deflects from the real humanitarian harms that are happening right now." - 'Denial' - Israel's offensive has killed at least 61,430 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, figures the United Nations deems reliable. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Forty-nine of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. When Najjar left Gaza last year, her daughters -- all in their 20s -- did not have Canadian citizenship. With the family separated, she lived with crippling fear at the prospect of receiving word that they had been killed. While her daughters now have citizenship and are in Canada with their children, her sons-in-law remain in Gaza, where the UN's Integrated Food Security Phase Classification says "widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths."
