Israel Continues to Justify Killing Journalists by Claiming They’re Hamas Terrorists

"The order to assassinate Anas Al Sharif, one of Gaza’s bravest journalists, and his colleagues, is a desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza,” Al Jazeera wrote on Sunday.

By Audra Heinrichs | August 11, 2025 | 6:32pm

Screenshot: Al Jazeera In Depth Latest

Israel Continues to Justify Killing Journalists by Claiming They’re Hamas Terrorists

On Sunday, Anas al-Sharif, a 28-year-old Al Jazeera reporter, was killed along with four colleagues in a deliberate drone strike by the Israeli military as they camped outside of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital. Alongside al-Sharif, Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, 33, and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, 25, Mohammed Noufal, 29, and Moamen Aliwa, 23, were also killed.

Al-Sharif had become one of the most well-known journalists covering the genocide in Gaza, having garnered nearly two million combined followers on Twitter and Instagram. As a result, the IDF began targeting him, claiming he was part of a Hamas cell. On July 24, the Committee to Protect Journalists wrote that it was “gravely worried” about al-Shariff’s safety in the face of the IDF’s smear campaign against him.

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“The order to assassinate Anas Al Sharif, one of Gaza’s bravest journalists, and his colleagues, is a desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza,” Al Jazeera wrote in a statement on Sunday.

Before his death, al-Sharif wrote a lengthy message that he had previously instructed his team to post on social media if he died. “This is my will and my final message,” he wrote. “If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. First, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings.”

He added: “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—so that Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women, doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half.”

The IDF swiftly justified al-Sharif’s death by continuing to wrongly claim he was a Hamas terrorist—just like they did after killing at least four other Al Jazeera journalists: Hamza Al Dahdouh in January 2024; Ismail Al Ghoul in July 2024; Rami Al Refee also in July 2024; and Hossam Shabat in March.

Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel has killed nearly 270 journalists (an average of 13 per month), per Al Jazeera. And according to a report published by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs’ Costs of War project, more journalists have been killed in Gaza than in both world wars, the Vietnam War, the wars in Yugoslavia, and the United States war in Afghanistan combined. Of those journalists, at least 10 Al Jazeera journalists have been targeted and killed by the IDF.

In addition to murdering journalists, Israel—armed with unsubstantiated Hamas accusations and impunity granted by the United States—continues to murder thousands upon thousands (over 60,000) of innocents. And because the IDF’s depravity knows no bounds, those risking everything to document it have been added to the growing number of casualties. How many more?

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