Latest news with #Anas al-Sharif
CTV News
32 minutes ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Anas Al-Sharif became the face of the war in Gaza for millions. Then Israel killed him
This undated recent image, taken from video broadcast by the Qatari-based television station Al Jazeera, shows the network's Arabic-language Gaza correspondent, Anas al-Sharif, reporting on camera in Gaza. Al-Sharif and four other Al Jazeera staff members were killed by an Israeli drone strike on their tent in Gaza City shortly before midnight on Sunday. (Al Jazeera via AP) As a ceasefire in Gaza took hold in January, Anas Al-Sharif began removing his protective gear live on television, piece by piece, while a jubilant crowd cheered, hoping the day marked the end of the suffering of 2 million Palestinians in the enclave. Nearly seven months later, Israel killed the Al Jazeera journalist and four of his colleagues in a strike in Gaza City. One of the most well-known Palestinian journalists in Gaza – and one of dozens to be killed by Israel during the war – Al-Sharif's death has ignited international condemnation and calls for accountability. The 28-year-old rose to prominence as the face of the Gaza story for millions while Israel has blocked international media outlets from accessing the territory. Little known before the war, he quickly turned into a household name in the Arab world for his daily coverage of the conflict and its humanitarian toll. His reports provided first-hand accounts of critical moments in the conflict, including the short-lived ceasefires in the territory, the release of Israeli hostages and harrowing stories of the starvation that have shocked the world. Al Jazeera recruited Al-Sharif in December 2023 after his social media footage of Israeli strikes in his hometown of Jabalya went viral. Then a professional cameraman, he was initially reluctant to appear on air but was persuaded by colleagues to front his reports, an experience he called 'indescribable.' 'I had never even appeared on a local channel let alone an international one,' he was cited as saying in the Sotour media outlet in February. 'The person who was happiest was my late father.' His father was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Jabalya shortly after Al-Sharif began appearing on Al Jazeera. A father of two, he appeared on the channel nearly every day since he started his job. 'We (journalists) slept in hospitals, in streets, in vehicles, in ambulances, in displacement shelters, in warehouses, with displaced people. I slept in 30 to 40 different places,' he told the outlet. After he took off his protective gear on air in January, crowds lifted him on their shoulders in celebration. 'I am taking off the helmet that tired me, and this armor that has become an extension of my body,' he said live on Al Jazeera at the time as he paid tribute to colleagues killed and injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza. Al-Sharif's reports attracted the attention of the Israeli military, which, he claimed, warned him to stop his work for Al Jazeera, a network that had already lost several staff members to Israeli actions in Gaza, including Ismail Al Ghoul, killed last year, and Hossam Shabat, killed in March. 'At the end, (the Israeli military) sent me voice notes on my WhatsApp number… an intelligence officer told me… 'you have minutes to leave the location you are in, go to the south, and stop reporting for Al Jazeera'… I was reporting from a hospital live.' 'Minutes later, the room I was reporting from was struck,' he said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) didn't respond to CNN's request for comment. Why now? Israel first accused Al-Sharif of being linked to Hamas 10 months ago. Why it decided to target him now is unclear. In a statement confirming his targeted killing, the IDF accused Al-Sharif of leading a Hamas cell in Gaza that orchestrated 'rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF forces.' In October 2024, the Israeli military published documents it claimed showed 'unequivocal proof' of Al-Sharif's ties to Hamas and named five other Al Jazeera journalists who it said were part of the militant group. An Israeli army spokesperson said in a video on X that Al-Sharif joined a Hamas battalion in 2013, and was injured in training in 2017, an accusation denied by the journalist himself and Irene Khan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression. 'I reaffirm: I, Anas Al-Sharif, am a journalist with no political affiliations. My only mission is to report the truth from the ground – as it is, without bias,' he wrote last month. 'At a time when a deadly famine is ravaging Gaza, speaking the truth has become, in the eyes of the occupation, a threat.' Following the journalist's killing, the IDF's Arabic spokesperson published several pictures of Al-Sharif with Yahya Sinwar, the late Hamas leader who is believed to have masterminded the October 7, 2023 attack that left around 1,200 people in Israel dead and roughly 250 more taken hostage. Israel killed Sinwar in October 2024. Al-Sharif was in a tent with other journalists near the entrance to the Al-Shifa Hospital when he was killed on Sunday, according to hospital director Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya. The tent was marked with a 'Press' sign, Abu Salmiya told CNN. The strike killed at least seven people, Salmiya added. Al Jazeera said correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and photojournalists Ibrahim Al Thaher and Moamen Aliwa were also killed in the strike, as well as Mohammed Noufal, another staff member. 'Pattern of accusing journalists' Al-Sharif's killing prompted condemnations from rights groups and officials. The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was 'appalled,' adding that Israel has 'a longstanding, documented pattern of accusing journalists of being terrorists without providing any credible proof.' The CPJ said 192 journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war nearly two years ago, adding: '184 of those journalists are Palestinians killed by Israel.' Since the start of the war, Israel has not allowed international journalists to enter Gaza to report independently. Just hours before the strike that killed Al-Sharif and his colleagues, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said foreign journalists would now be allowed into Gaza, but only with Israeli military approval and accompanied by them, the same embed policy that has been in place since the beginning of the war. Al-Sharif was buried in Gaza on Monday in a funeral that attracted large crowds of Palestinian mourners. Anticipating his own death, Al-Sharif had written a will that was released by his colleagues after he was killed. 'I have 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… If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles,' he wrote. 'Do not forget Gaza … and do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.' Mostafa Salem, CNN
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Mourners gather amid outrage over Israeli troops' killing of journalists in Gaza
Update: Date: 2025-08-11T11:51:30.000Z Title: Anas al-Sharif Content: UN condemns killing of and colleagues, calling it a 'grave breach of international humanitarian law' among five journalists killed in Israeli airstrike Hayden Vernon Mon 11 Aug 2025 07.51 EDT First published on Mon 11 Aug 2025 03.05 EDT From 6.59am EDT 06:59 Gazans gathered on Monday for the funeral of five Al Jazeera staff members and a sixth reporter killed in an Israeli strike, AFP reports. Dozens stood amid bombed-out buildings in the courtyard of Al-Shifa hospital to pay their respects to , a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent aged 28, and four of his colleagues, killed on Sunday. A sixth journalist, Mohammed al-Khaldi who worked as a freelance reporter, was also killed in the strike that targeted the Al Jazeera team, according to the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya. Their bodies, wrapped in white shrouds with their faces exposed, were carried through narrow alleys to their graves by mourners including men wearing blue journalists' flak jackets. Israel confirmed it had targeted al-Sharif, whom it labelled a 'terrorist' affiliated with Hamas, saying he 'posed as a journalist'. The four other staff members killed were Mohammed Qreiqeh, also a correspondent, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. 7.50am EDT 07:50 Keir Starmer has said he is 'gravely concerned' about the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza, the British prime minister's spokesperson said on Monday, after the killing of and four colleagues by the IDF. Updated at 7.51am EDT 7.47am EDT 07:47 Emmanuel Macron has condemned Israel's plans to step up its military operation in Gaza as a 'disaster waiting to happen' and proposed an international coalition under a United Nations mandate to stabilise Gaza. His foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, had already strongly criticised the plans announced on Friday by Benjamin Netanyahu, saying in a statement: France strongly condemns the Israeli government's plan aimed at preparing for the complete occupation of Gaza. Such an operation would worsen an already catastrophic situation without enabling the release of Hamas hostages, its disarmament, or its surrender. 7.28am EDT 07:28 The Western Wall in Jerusalem has been vandalised with graffiti condemning Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, triggering widespread condemnation from religious leaders and politicians, AFP reports. 'There is a holocaust in Gaza,' was graffitied in Hebrew on the southern portion of the wall, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray. A similar message was also scrawled on the wall of the Great Synagogue, elsewhere in the city. Israeli police said a 27-year-old suspect had been arrested and would appear in court later on Monday, with the police requesting that his detention be extended. The incident sparked immediate outrage in Israel, with the Western Wall's Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch calling it a 'desecration'. National security minister Itamar Ben Gvir – who oversees the country's law enforcement agencies – said he was shocked and vowed that the police would act 'with lightning speed'. Sharp condemnation also came from the opposition. Former defence minister Benny Gantz, now an opposition leader, called it 'a crime against the entire Jewish people'. The Western Wall lies in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem, which Israeli forces captured during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Updated at 7.29am EDT 7.18am EDT 07:18 Journalists in Dublin will hold a vigil this evening to 'expresss outrage at Israel's ongoing targeting and killing of journalists', the National Union of Journalists have said. The protest has been prompted by the killing of six journalists in Gaza by Israel. 7.14am EDT 07:14 Qatar's prime minister and minister for foreign affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani condemned Israel's killing of six Palestinian journalists, five of whom were working for Al Jazeera, which is headquartered in Qatar and part state-funded. 'The deliberate targeting of journalists by Israel in the Gaza Strip reveals how these crimes are beyond imagination, amid the inability of the int'l community & its laws to stop this tragedy. May God have mercy on journalists Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qraiqea, & their colleagues,' he said in a post on X. 6.59am EDT 06:59 Gazans gathered on Monday for the funeral of five Al Jazeera staff members and a sixth reporter killed in an Israeli strike, AFP reports. Dozens stood amid bombed-out buildings in the courtyard of Al-Shifa hospital to pay their respects to , a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent aged 28, and four of his colleagues, killed on Sunday. A sixth journalist, Mohammed al-Khaldi who worked as a freelance reporter, was also killed in the strike that targeted the Al Jazeera team, according to the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya. Their bodies, wrapped in white shrouds with their faces exposed, were carried through narrow alleys to their graves by mourners including men wearing blue journalists' flak jackets. Israel confirmed it had targeted al-Sharif, whom it labelled a 'terrorist' affiliated with Hamas, saying he 'posed as a journalist'. The four other staff members killed were Mohammed Qreiqeh, also a correspondent, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. 6.41am EDT 06:41 In a statement on X, the UN's human rights office said: 'We condemn the killing by Israeli military of 6 Palestinian journalists by targeting their tent, in grave breach of international humanitarian law. #Israel must respect & protect all civilians, including journalists. At least 242 Palestinian journalists were killed in Gaza since 7 Oct 2023. We call for immediate, safe & unhindered access to Gaza for all journalists.' Israel said it targeted , one of the journalists killed, because he was a member of Hamas. Multiple organisations, including the UN and Reporters Without Borders, have questioned the veracity of that claim. 6.29am EDT 06:29 Palestinians reported the heaviest bombardments in weeks on Monday in areas east of Gaza City, just hours after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected to complete a new expanded offensive in the territory 'fairly quickly', Reuters reports. Witnesses said Israeli tanks and planes pounded Sabra, Zeitoun, and Shejaia, three eastern suburbs of Gaza City in the north of the territory, pushing many families out of their homes westwards. Some Gaza City residents said it was one of the worst nights in weeks, raising fears of military preparations for a deeper offensive into their city, which is now sheltering about 1 million people after the displacement of residents from the enclave's northern edges, according to Hamas. The Israeli military said its forces fired artillery at Hamas militants in the area. There was no sign on the ground of forces moving deeper into Gaza City as part of the newly approved Israeli offensive. Netanyahu on Sunday said he had instructed the Israeli military to speed up its plans for the new offensive. 'I want to end the war as quickly as possible, and that is why I have instructed the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) to shorten the schedule for seizing control of Gaza City,' he said. The plans to step-up the offensive have been criticised by a number of countries. 6.15am EDT 06:15 Greta Thunberg said she and a Palestinian activist group plan to sail a new flotilla loaded with humanitarian aid to Gaza to break the 'illegal Israeli siege', AFP reports. Two other attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza, in June and July, were blocked by Israel. Troops boarded their vessels and detained the activists before expelling them. 'On August 31st we are launching the biggest attempt ever to break the illegal Israeli siege over Gaza with dozens of boats sailing from Spain,' the Swedish campaigner said in a post on Instagram late on Sunday. 'We will meet dozens more on September 4th sailing from Tunisia and other ports,' she said. 5.58am EDT 05:58 Israel's plan to take over Gaza City is 'a matter of grave concern,' China's permanent representative to the UN Fu Cong, said at a weekend meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue held by the UN Security Council, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reports. Urging Israel to 'stop this dangerous move at once,' Fu said: 'Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people. It is an integral part of the Palestinian territory. Any action that seeks to alter its demographic and territorial structure must be met with utmost rejection and resistance.'
CTV News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Israeli strike kills Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif as toll on journalists in Gaza worsens
This undated recent image, taken from video broadcast by the Qatari-based television station Al Jazeera, shows the network's Arabic-language Gaza correspondent, Anas al-Sharif, reporting on camera in Gaza. Al-Sharif and four other Al Jazeera staff members were killed by an Israeli drone strike on their tent in Gaza City shortly before midnight on Sunday. (Al Jazeera via AP)
BreakingNews.ie
12 hours ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Al Jazeera correspondents among journalists killed in Gaza City air strike
Israel's military has targeted a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent with an air strike, killing him, another journalist and at least six other people. Anas al-Sharif and his Al Jazeera colleague Mohamed Qureiqa were among those killed while sheltering outside the Gaza City Hospital complex late on Sunday. Advertisement Officials at Shifa Hospital confirmed the deaths and said the strike also killed four other journalists and two other people. It also damaged the entrance to the hospital complex's emergency building. People inspect the destroyed tent where journalists, including Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohamed Qureiqa, were killed by an Israeli air strike (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) Israel's military described Mr al-Sharif as the leader of a Hamas cell – an allegation that Al Jazeera and Mr al-Sharif had previously dismissed as baseless. The incident marked the first time during the war that Israel's military has swiftly claimed responsibility after a journalist was killed in a strike. It came less than a year after Israeli army officials first accused Mr al-Sharif and other Al Jazeera journalists of being members of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In a July 24 video, Israel's army spokesman Avichay Adraee attacked Al Jazeera and accused Mr al-Sharif of being part of Hamas's military wing. Advertisement Al Jazeera called the strike a 'targeted assassination' and accused Israeli officials of incitement, connecting Mr al-Sharif's death to the allegations that both the broadcaster and correspondent had denied. 'Anas 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,' Al Jazeera said in a statement. The journalists are the latest to be killed in what observers have called the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern times (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) Apart from rare invitations to observe Israeli military operations, international media have been barred from entering Gaza for the duration of the war. Al Jazeera is among the few outlets still fielding a big team of reporters inside the besieged strip, chronicling daily life amid air strikes, hunger and the rubble of destroyed neighbourhoods. The broadcaster has suffered heavy losses during the war, including 27-year-old correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi, killed last summer, and freelancer Hossam Shabat, killed in an Israeli air strike in March. Advertisement Like Mr al-Sharif, Mr Shabat was among the six that Israel accused of being members of militant groups last October. Hundreds of people, including many journalists, gathered on Monday to mourn Mr al-Sharif, Mr Qureiqa and their colleagues. Mr al-Sharif reported a nearby bombardment minutes before his death. In a social media post that Al Jazeera said was written to be posted in case of his death, he bemoaned the devastation and destruction that war had wrought and bid farewell to his wife, son and daughter. 'I never hesitated for a single day to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification,' the 28-year-old wrote. Advertisement The journalists are the latest to be killed in what observers have called the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern times. The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Sunday that at least 186 have been killed in Gaza. Mr al-Sharif began reporting for Al Jazeera a few days after war broke out. He was known for reporting on Israel's bombardment in northern Gaza, and later for the starvation gripping much of the territory's population. Mr Qureiqa, a 33-year-old Gaza City native, is survived by two children. Both journalists were separated from their families for months earlier in the war. When they managed to reunite during the ceasefire earlier this year, their children appeared unable to recognise them, according to video footage they posted at the time. Advertisement Israel's military claimed responsibility for the attack (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) In a July broadcast he cried on air as a woman behind him collapsed from hunger. 'I am talking about slow death of those people,' he said at the time. Al Jazeera is blocked in Israel and soldiers raided its offices in the occupied West Bank last year, ordering them to close. Mr al-Sharif's death comes weeks after the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Israel had targeted him with a smear campaign. Irene Khan, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, on July 31 said that the killings were 'part of a deliberate strategy of Israel to suppress the truth, obstruct the documentation of international crimes and bury any possibility of future accountability'. The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Sunday that it was appalled by the strike. 'Israel's pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,' Sara Qudah, the group's regional director, said.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Al Jazeera correspondent among journalists killed in Gaza City air strike
Israel's military has targeted a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent with an air strike, killing him, another journalist and at least six other people. Anas al-Sharif and his Al Jazeera colleague Mohamed Qureiqa were among those killed while sheltering outside the Gaza City Hospital complex late on Sunday. Officials at Shifa Hospital confirmed the deaths and said the strike also killed four other journalists and two other people. It also damaged the entrance to the hospital complex's emergency building. Israel's military described Mr al-Sharif as the leader of a Hamas cell – an allegation that Al Jazeera and Mr al-Sharif had previously dismissed as baseless. The incident marked the first time during the war that Israel's military has swiftly claimed responsibility after a journalist was killed in a strike. It came less than a year after Israeli army officials first accused Mr al-Sharif and other Al Jazeera journalists of being members of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In a July 24 video, Israel's army spokesman Avichay Adraee attacked Al Jazeera and accused Mr al-Sharif of being part of Hamas's military wing. Al Jazeera called the strike a 'targeted assassination' and accused Israeli officials of incitement, connecting Mr al-Sharif's death to the allegations that both the broadcaster and correspondent had denied. 'Anas 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,' Al Jazeera said in a statement. Mr al-Sharif reported a nearby bombardment minutes before his death. In a social media post that Al Jazeera said was written to be posted in case of his death, he bemoaned the devastation and destruction that war had wrought and bid farewell to his wife, son and daughter. 'I never hesitated for a single day to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification,' the 28-year-old wrote. The journalists are the latest to be killed in what observers have called the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern times. The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Sunday that at least 186 have been killed in Gaza. Mr al-Sharif began reporting for Al Jazeera a few days after war broke out. He was known for reporting on Israel's bombardment in northern Gaza, and later for the starvation gripping much of the territory's population. In a July broadcast he cried on air as a woman behind him collapsed from hunger. 'I am talking about slow death of those people,' he said at the time. Al Jazeera is blocked in Israel and soldiers raided its offices in the occupied West Bank last year, ordering them to close. Mr al-Sharif's death comes weeks after the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Israel had targeted him with a smear campaign. 'Israel's pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,' Sara Qudah, the group's regional director, said.
