GAZA CITY — A devastating Israeli airstrike has claimed the lives of four Al Jazeera journalists, including Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammad Qraiqea, in Gaza City today as Israel intensified its military campaign across the enclave.

Who Were the Journalists

• Anas Al-Sharif (1996–2025), a videographer and correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic, was killed in a strike that hit a media tent outside Al-Shifa Hospital. Al-Sharif was widely known for his courageous frontline reporting in northern Gaza and persisted in covering the conflict despite personal tragedy—his father had been killed in a previous airstrike.

• Alongside him, three other Al Jazeera staff members were killed: Mohammad Qraiqea, Ibrahim Zaher, and Mohammed Noufal. All died in the same strike, which targeted a tent housing multiple media workers.

The Broader Context

This tragedy is the latest in a series of deadly attacks on journalists in Gaza. Since the war began in October 2023, more journalists have died in Gaza than in all of World War II, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, and Vietnam combined.

Recent incidents include:

• The Al-Baqa café airstrike on June 30, which killed photojournalist Ismail Abu Hatab along with dozens of others in an internet café often used by members of the media.

• Prior attacks targeted clearly marked media locations, including journalists standing outside hospitals in broad daylight. Such deliberate targeting is widely seen by international observers as violations of international humanitarian law.

International Alarm and Calls for Accountability

Media freedom groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), have denounced the pattern of killings as indicative of impunity and disregard for the safety of civilians — especially journalists.

Al Jazeera denounced today’s strike, saying it appeared to “target a tent for media workers” and demanded accountability.

Final Reflections

The deaths of Al-Sharif, Qraiqea, Zaher, and Noufal serve as a brutal reminder of the perilous conditions media professionals face in Gaza — where reporting the truth often comes at the highest cost.