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Israel has killed a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza and four other employees at the television network in an air strike targeting their tent in the besieged strip.
The Israeli military acknowledged killing Anas Al-Sharif, 28, repeating unproven allegations that he was the head of a Hamas cell.
The Qatari-controlled TV network described the attack outside Shifa hospital in northern Gaza as “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom”, adding that the strike killed Sharif, three other journalists, and another staff member.
The Committee to Protect Journalists last month warned that Sharif was being smeared with unproven ties to Hamas to pave the path for his assassination. More than 180 journalists have been killed in the 22-month war, according to CPJ.
Sharif was among the last remaining Al Jazeera correspondents in Gaza, reporting most recently from northern Gaza where a famine continues to unfold under an Israeli blockade.
The strike on the journalists comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to prepare to expand its offensive and take over Gaza City.
An Israel Defense Force spokesperson first made the allegations about Sharif last year. Al Jazeera denied the allegations and the New York-based CPJ called them an attempt to “manufacture consent for his killing”.
The IDF did not reply to a query regarding the timing of the killing — Sharif’s location was widely known from his near daily broadcasts outside the Shifa hospital, including an emotional one in late July about a woman who had fainted, reportedly from hunger, outside its gates.
Israel repeated its allegations about Sharif soon after that report went viral, prompting both the Qatari news network and journalism watchdogs to warn that Sharif was being targeted for his reporting.
Israel had said the allegation was based on intercepted documents from Gaza that showed his name on salary and other lists maintained by Hamas. These allegations could not be verified.
Sharif himself expected that the Israeli military would kill him, according to a post that his friends shared on social media and interviews he had previously given to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera said Sharif’s killing was a “desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza”.
The network named three other employees who were killed as Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, all working as technicians or cameramen.
Israel has banned foreign journalists from independent access to Gaza since October 7 2023, when Hamas triggered the war with a cross-border raid that killed 1,200 people in Israel.
The killing came as the Australian government said it would recognise a Palestinian state in September, following in the footsteps of France, the UK and Canada.
Anthony Albanese, Australia’s prime minister, said the move would help build momentum towards a two-state solution and followed commitments from the Palestinian Authority — a Hamas rival that has limited self-autonomy in the occupied West Bank — regarding demilitarisation, elections, governance reform and the Arab League’s demand that Hamas end its rule of Gaza.
Netanyahu described Australia’s move as “shameful” and said European countries and Australia had marched “into a rabbit hole” that would not bring peace to the region.
The Australian government informed the US of its intention in a call with Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, on Monday ahead of the formal announcement. Rubio has criticised moves by other countries to do so.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
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