Israeli Kills Five Journalists in Targeted Airstrike 

The Israeli military confirmed over the weekend that it had killed five Al Jazeera journalists, including a prominent reporter who had previously been threatened by Israel, in a targeted airstrike condemned by numerous countries, journalists, and human rights groups across the world, the Associated Press reported. 

The victims, sheltering in a tent outside the Gaza City Hospital complex at the time of the strike, included 28-year-old Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al Sharif, correspondent Mohammed Qraiqea, photographers Ibrahim Al Thaher and Mohamed Nofal, and two other individuals, including a local freelance reporter, Mohammad Al-Khaldi.  

The attack also damaged the entrance to the hospital complex’s emergency building. 

Officials from both Israel and the hospital confirmed the deaths, which many labeled as retaliation against those reporting on the war in Gaza. 

This incident was the first instance in the war where Israel’s military quickly claimed responsibility for a strike that killed a journalist.  

Israel rejects deliberately targeting journalists, claiming that many of those killed in its airstrikes were militants from Islamist groups disguising themselves as member of the press.

Israel said late Sunday that it targeted Al Sharif because he allegedly led a Hamas militant cell and played a role in launching rocket attacks against Israel. It cited intelligence and documents found in Gaza as evidence but has not made them public, Reuters noted. 

Both the correspondent Al Sharif and his employer, the Qatari-funded news outlet Al Jazeera, had previously rejected those allegations, with Al Jazeera condemning the killings as “targeted assassination.” 

While international media have been denied entry to the enclave, Al Jazeera journalists stayed inside the blockaded Gaza Strip, enduring the same hunger and hardship they reported on. 

“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,” wrote Al Jazeera in a statement. 

The network has faced significant losses in the 22-month-old ongoing war, which observers say is the deadliest on record for journalists in modern times. At least 186 journalists have been killed in Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. 

Hamas criticized the killings, warning they could signal the beginning of a large-scale Israeli offensive and accusing Israel of using the attacks to intimidate journalists prior to such an assault. 

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani strongly criticized the attack, writing on X that Israel’s deliberate targeting of journalists in Gaza shows how its crimes are “beyond imagination.” 

The United Nations human rights office condemned Israel’s military for the killing of the journalists, describing it as a “grave breach of international humanitarian law.”