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Al Jazeera<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nFive Al Jazeera journalists have been killed in an Israeli strike near Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the broadcaster has said.<\/p>\n Correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, plus cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa were in a tent for journalists at the hospital’s main gate when it was targeted, Al Jazeera reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n The “targeted assassination” was “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom”, it said in a statement.<\/p>\n Shortly after the strike, the IDF confirmed that it had struck Anas al-Sharif, posting on Telegram that he had “served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The IDF did not mention any of the other journalists who were killed. <\/p>\n In total, seven people died in the strike, Al Jazeera reports. The broadcaster initially said that four of its staff had been killed, but revised it to five a few hours later.<\/p>\n Its managing editor, Mohamed Moawad, told the BBC that al-Sharif was an accredited journalist who was “the only voice” for the world to know what was happening in the Gaza Strip. <\/p>\n Throughout the war, Israel has not allowed international journalists into Gaza to report freely. Therefore, many outlets rely on local reporters within Gaza for coverage.<\/p>\n “They were targeted in their tent, they weren’t covering from the front line,” Mr Moawad said of the Israeli strike. <\/p>\n “The fact is that the Israeli government is wanting to silence the coverage of any channel of reporting from inside Gaza,” he told The Newsroom programme. <\/p>\n “This is something that I haven’t seen before in modern history.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Al-Sharif, 28, appeared to be posting on X in the moments before his death, warning of intense Israeli bombardment within Gaza City.<\/p>\n A post that was published after he was reported to have died appears to have been pre-written and published by a friend.<\/p>\n In two graphic videos of the aftermath of the strike, which have been confirmed by BBC Verify, men can be seen carrying the bodies of those who were killed. <\/p>\n Some shout out Mohammed Qreiqeh’s name, and a man wearing a media vest says that one of the bodies is that of Anas al-Sharif.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The IDF statement accused al-Sharif of posing as a journalist, and being “responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops”<\/p>\n It said it had previously “disclosed intelligence” confirming his military affiliation, which included “lists of terrorist training courses”.<\/p>\n “Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munition, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the statement added.<\/p>\n Last month, the Al Jazeera Media Network – along with the United Nations<\/a> and the Committee to Protect Journalists<\/a> (CPJ) – issued separate statements calling for the protection of al-Sharif. <\/p>\n The broadcaster denounced “relentless efforts” by the IDF for an “ongoing campaign of incitement targeting Al Jazeera’s correspondents and journalists in the Gaza Strip”.<\/p>\n “The Network considers this incitement a dangerous attempt to justify the targeting of its journalists in the field,” it added.<\/p>\n According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 186 journalists have been confirmed killed since the start of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in October 2023.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Shayan Sardarizadeh, BBC Verify<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n