'Blatant and Premeditated Attack on Press Freedom': Israel Assassinates Five Gaza Journalists

The Israeli military on Sunday killed five Al Jazeera journalists with an airstrike on a press tent in Gaza City, a massacre that the media network decried as "yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom."

Reporters Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa were killed in the Israeli strike. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it was intentionally targeting al-Sharif, claiming he was "the head of a Hamas terrorist cell."

Press freedom organizations, United Nations experts, and human rights groups have denounced such assertions as part of a smear campaign aimed at justifying al-Sharif's assassination. Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was "gravely worried" about al-Sharif's safety, noting that the IDF ramped up its false attacks after "the journalist cried on air while reporting on starvation in Gaza."

CPJ regional director Sara Qudah said in a statement Sunday that "Israel's pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom."

"Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted," said Qudah. "Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable."

The Al Jazeera Media Network said the five journalists killed by the Israeli military on Sunday "boldly and courageously documented the plight of Gaza and its people since the onset of the war." They are among at least 10 Al Jazeera staff members who have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023.

"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," the network continued. "Through continuous, courageous live coverage, they have delivered searing eyewitness accounts of the horrors unleashed over 22 months of relentless bombing and destruction."

Slain Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif reported near a hospital in Gaza City on October 10, 2024. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)

The Israeli government has barred the foreign press from entering the Gaza Strip, leaving Palestinian journalists with the immense burden of covering the assault while also struggling for their own survival.

CPJ estimates that more than 180 journalists have been killed since Israel's assault on Gaza began following the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate puts the figure higher, at 230.

Palestinian journalists are also among those facing the growing threat of starvation under Israel's suffocating blockade.

Mohamed Duar, Amnesty International Australia's occupied Palestinian territory spokesperson, said Sunday that "Israel isn't just assassinating journalists but attacking journalism itself by preventing the documentation of genocide."

“The courageous and brave journalists who have been reporting since the genocide began have been operating in the most dangerous conditions on Earth," said Duar. "At great risk to their lives, they have remained to show the world the war crimes being committed by Israel against almost two million Palestinian women, men, and children."