Who was Anas Al Sharif? Al Jazeera’s ‘bravest’ Gaza journalist killed along with 4 colleagues in Israeli strikes

Israel's military said it targeted and killed a Hamas cell leader posing as an Al Jazeera journalist along with four of his Al Jazeera colleagues in an airstrike on Gaza City on Sunday (August 10, 2025). The Qatari broadcaster has condemned the claim. According to Gaza officials and Al Jazeera, Anas Al Sharif was among a group of four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant who died in a strike on a tent near Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City. An official at the hospital said two other people were also killed in the strike.

Besides Sharif, four other journalists who lost their lives were reporter Mohammed Qreiqeh and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, Al Jazeera said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would launch a new offensive to dismantle Hamas strongholds in Gaza, where a hunger crisis is escalating after three and a half years of war. "Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices in Gaza conveying the tragic reality to the world," Al Jazeera said. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said 237 journalists have been killed since the war started on October 7, 2023.

Israeli military gives details on Al Sharif’s killing

Al Sharif was the head of a Hamas cell and "was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF (Israeli) troops," the Israeli military said in a statement, citing intelligence and documents found in Gaza as evidence. The killings of five Al Jazeera journalists were condemned and denounced by Palestinian journalists' groups and Al Jazeera.

A press freedom group and a UN expert previously warned that Al Sharif's life was in danger due to his reporting from Gaza. U.N. Special Rapporteur Irene Khan said last month that Israel's claims against him were unsubstantiated. In July, the Committee to Protect Journalists urged the international community to protect Al Sharif.

Minutes before his death, Al Sharif posted on X that Israel had been intensely bombarding Gaza City for more than two hours. Calling Al Sharif "one of Gaza's bravest journalists," Al Jazeera said the attack "is a desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza."

Who was Anas Al Sharif: Family and education

Sharif was born in 1996. According to This Week in Palestine, he graduated from the media faculty at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza City and works for Al Jazeera, specializing in radio and television coverage. Anas Al-Sharif lived in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been repeatedly attacked by Israeli tanks, planes, and drones since October 7, 2023. Al-Sharif received the Best Young Journalist Award in Palestine in 2018 for his reporting on Gaza.

Anas Al Sharif’s family received constant Israeli threats

The family house of Anas Al Sharif was bombed in December 2023. His 90-year-old father was killed. Al-Sharif’s father was unable to accompany the rest of the family, who were evacuated to an UNRWA school, due to poor health.

Previously, Sharif had reported that he received threats from Israeli military officers via phone. The journalist told Al-Jazeera that he had received multiple phone calls from officers in the Israeli army instructing him to cease coverage and leave northern Gaza. In addition, he received voice notes on WhatsApp disclosing his location.