A new Israeli crime against the media: Killing Al Jazeera network crew in Gaza

Anas al Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqea, Qatari Al Jazeera channel correspondents in Gaza City, and three accompanying cameramen from the channel’s crew were killed on Sunday evening when an Israeli airstrike targeted a journalists’ tent near al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, north of the Gaza Strip.

Anas al Sharif and his colleagues reflects, according to observers, Israel’s intention to kill reporters in Gaza City before embarking on its occupation of the city, as part of a gradual plan approved by the Israeli government on Friday to occupy the entire Gaza Strip.

What happened is an Israeli drone targeted a reporters’ tent near al Shifa Hospital, where Palestinian reporters including Anas al Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqea, and their colleagues were present.

In the same context, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of the al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, that the bombing of the reporters’ tent in front of the al Shifa Complex gate resulted in the deaths of seven people, including five reporters.

The Qatari channel quoted an official at al Shifa Hospital as saying, “Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqea, along with three other Al Jazeera crew members, were martyred as a result of an Israeli bombardment of their tent”.

Qatar’s Al Jazeera network condemned, early Monday morning, what it described as the premeditated Israeli assassination of its correspondents and photographers in the Gaza Strip, describing it as a desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza.

In its first comment on the incident, Al Jazeera Network said in a statement: “We condemn the premeditated assassination of our correspondents Anas al Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqea, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal”.

Al Jazeera network added, “The order to kill Anas al Sharif, one of Gaza’s bravest journalists, and his colleagues is a desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza”.

Al Jazeera noted in its statement that many Israeli military officials have repeatedly incited and called for the targeting of Anas al Sharif and his companions, holding “the occupation army and its government responsible for the targeting and assassination of its team”.

The statement added, “The assassination of our correspondents by the Israeli occupation forces is a new, blatant and deliberate attack on press freedom”.

The statement continued, “The killers of the journalists targeted, with their own acknowledgement in an Israeli military statement, the Al Jazeera journalists’ tent at the al Shifa complex”.

The statement noted that “the attack on Al Jazeera staff came amid a horrific humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Israeli aggression, which is witnessing massacres”.

Anas al Sharif and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices in Gaza conveying the tragic reality to the world.

Regarding their commitment to continuing to report the truth, Al Jazeera stated, “Despite losing colleagues to deliberate attacks and working under threat, Anas al Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqea, and their colleagues have remained steadfast”.

The statement reiterated her strong condemnation and denunciation of the heinous crimes and the ongoing attempts by the Israeli authorities to silence the voice of truth.

Al Jazeera warned that “impunity and lack of accountability allow Israel to continue its aggression and encourage it to further oppress witnesses to the truth”.

For its part, the Israeli army acknowledged on Sunday evening its assassination of Anas al Sharif, the Al Jazeera correspondent in the Gaza Strip.

In an attempt to justify his crime, the Israeli army claimed in a statement that al Sharif “served as a cell leader in Hamas and was planning rocket attacks against Israel”.

For its part, Hamas said Sunday evening that Israel’s assassination of Al Jazeera journalists, in an airstrike targeting the journalists’ tent in the courtyard of al Shifa Hospital west of Gaza City, constitutes a “brutal crime that exceeds all limits of fascism”.

It’s worth noting that since the start of the war in Gaza, 237 journalists were by Israel since, marking the largest targeting of journalists the world has ever seen.

Since the start of the war, Anas al Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqea have been reporting on the situation in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been bombarding the territory for 22 months.

The were the first reporters to travel to bombed areas to report on the situation and capture the reality, moment by moment, especially from the northern regions.