“The order to kill Anas al-Sharif, one of Gaza’s bravest journalists, as well as his colleagues, is a desperate attempt to silence Gaza’s occupation.” The defense forces of Israel (IDF, in the English acronym) accuse Al-Sharif of leading a Hamas cell in Gaza. Israel has not allowed, since the beginning of the war, that international journalists enter the Gaza Strip to make independent reports
“I ask you not to be silent by the chains”: Israelite attack kills several journalists in Gaza, including reporters from Al Jazeera
by Abeer Salman, Days Karni, Mohammed Tawfeeq
An Israeli attack in the city of Gaza on Sunday night killed seven people, including at least four al Jazeera news chain journalists.
The Israelite army claimed to have attacked and killed the correspondent of Al Jazeera Anas al-Sharif. It is a prominent journalist who extensively covered the war from the interior of Gaza. Israel accused him of leading a Hamas cell, something al-Sharif (in the photo that opens this article) had already denied.
They were still killed in the attack Mohammed Qreiqeh, who was also a journalist of Al Jazeera in Gaza, and photojournalists Ibrahim Al Thaher and Mohamed Nofal.
“The order to kill Anas Al-Sharif, one of Gaza’s bravest journalists, as well as his colleagues, is a desperate attempt to silence Gaza’s occupation,” said Al Jazeera in a statement after the attack.
Minutes before being killed, Al-Sharif wrote the following on social networks: “If this madness does not end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, the voices of these silenced people, their faces erased-and the story will remember as silent witnesses of a genocide they have chosen not to prevent.”
Al-Sharif was on a tent with other journalists near the entrance to Al-Shifa Hospital when he was killed, according to the director, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, who refers to the death of seven people following the attack. This tent was identified with a sign of “press,” he told CNN.
The defense forces of Israel (IDF, in the English acronym) accused Al-Sharif of leading a Hamas cell in Gaza that “launched attacks with Rockets against Israelites civilians and IDF troops.” The IDF had already submitted documents that, according to them, were “unmistakable evidence” of Al-Sharif’s ties with Hamas. “IDF had already released information and many documents found in the Gaza Strip, confirming their military affiliation in Hamas,” the military insisted on a statement after the attack.
Last month, after Israel’s defense forces accused 28-year-old Al-Sharif of being a member of Hamas, he responded through a message on social networks.
“I reaffirm: Me, Anas al-Sharif, I am a journalist without political affiliations. My only mission is to report the truth from where it is-as it is, without prejudice,” he wrote. “At a time when a deadly hunger plagues Gaza, telling the truth became, in the eyes of the occupation, a threat.”
The Journalist Protection Committee (CPJ) said in July it was “deeply concerned” about Al-Sharif’s safety, as the journalist feared for his life after “an Israeli military defamation campaign,” which believed “to be a precursor of his murder.”
The organization revealed that 186 journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war, which has been held for almost two years. He realized: “178 of these journalists are Palestinian killed by Israel.”
Israel has not allowed, since the beginning of the war, that international journalists enter the Gaza Strip to make independent reports. A few hours before the attack that killed Al-Sharif and colleagues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said foreign journalists would now be allowed to enter Gaza, but only with the approval of the IDF and accompanied by them.
Therefore, Palestinian reporters of great media, such as Al Jazeera, have become the eyes and ears of those who suffer in Gaza during this conflict, living under the same harsh conditions of the remaining population.
Hamas accused the Israelite army on Sunday of “attacking and killing” Palestinian journalists, asking for journalists and international media to have “freedom of entry” in Gaza.
The United Nations had already considered that Israel’s allegations about Al-Sharif were an Hamas agent are “unfounded accusations.”
“I am deeply alarmed by the repeated Israeli army threats and accusations against Al-Sharif, the latest surviving journalist of Al Jazeera in northern Gaza,” said Irene Khan, a UN special rapporteur for freedom of expression two weeks ago.
Al-Sharif, who was married and had two children, had prepared a final message for the case of dying. The message was shared by colleagues.
“I ask you to take care of my beloved daughter, Shams, the light of my eyes, that time did not allow me to see grow as I dreamed,” wrote Al-Sharif. “And I recommend that you take care of my dear son, Salah, to whom I wanted to be a support and a companion on their journey, until it became strong enough to share the burden and continue the message,” he added.
“I ask you not to be silent by the chains, not to be prevented by the borders, and to be bridges for the liberation of the earth and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom shines over our busy homeland,” wrote Al-Sharif.
