This scale and concentration of killings is unprecedented.
Never before has a military eliminated nearly all working journalists in a territory while simultaneously banning access to outside media. This is Gaza today — a sealed-off enclave under complete Israeli siege — where more than 237 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023, according to Gaza’s government media office. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has confirmed at least 186 deaths, still the highest toll ever recorded in a single conflict.(cpj.org)
This is not a war zone between two equal sides. It is the liquidation of a besieged civilian population, where the people documenting the destruction are being systematically removed.
A Targeted Strike at Al-Shifa
On 10 August 2025, an Israeli airstrike hit a clearly marked media tent outside Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, killing Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif (28), fellow Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Qreiqeh, camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, along with freelance reporter Mohammad al-Khaldi. Seven people in total died in the attack.
Hundreds of mourners carried their bodies through the streets of Gaza City the next day, wrapped in white sheets, from the Al-Shifa hospital complex to Sheikh Radwan cemetery. Friends, colleagues, and relatives embraced in grief, calling out the journalists’ names.(theguardian.com)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admitted carrying out the strike — the first time during this war it has swiftly claimed responsibility for killing a journalist — but alleged that al-Sharif was a Hamas cell leader. Al Jazeera, CPJ, and UN press freedom officials rejected the accusation as baseless. The IDF posted images online claiming to show proof of al-Sharif’s militant links, but did not release verifiable documents; The Guardian could not independently confirm the claims.
“Israel’s pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa director.
“One of Gaza’s Bravest Journalists”
Reporters Without Borders condemned the “acknowledged murder” of al-Sharif, calling it part of a broader pattern of targeting Gaza’s press corps. Al Jazeera described him as “one of Gaza’s bravest journalists” and said his killing was “a desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza.”
Al-Sharif himself had warned of the danger he faced. In July, he told CPJ he lived with “the feeling that I could be bombed and martyred at any moment.” In a final message written on 6 April — posted to his X account after his death — he wrote:
“I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification. Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent… whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women… doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half.”
Siege and Silence
Since October 2023, Israel has barred all foreign reporters from entering Gaza — a rare move in modern warfare. The burden of documenting the destruction has fallen entirely on Palestinian journalists, many of whom are displaced multiple times, their homes destroyed, their families killed. Some are forced to queue for food at dangerous distribution points, all while trying to report.
The Watson Institute’s Costs of War project found that more journalists have been killed in Gaza than in both world wars, the Vietnam war, the wars in Yugoslavia, and the US war in Afghanistan combined.
A Pattern of Targeted Strikes
The Al-Shifa killings are part of a broader pattern:
- Hossam Shabat – Killed 24 March 2025 in a targeted strike.
- Fatima Hassouna – Photojournalist killed 16 April 2025 with her family in their home.
- Yahya Sobeih – Freelance journalist killed 7 May 2025 in a crowded market.
- Ismail Abu Hatab – Killed 30 June 2025 at a seaside café known as a media gathering spot.
In each case, survivors and rights groups have reported the victims were clearly identifiable as press.
Legal Brief: Journalists as Protected Civilians
- Under International Humanitarian Law, journalists are civilians unless directly participating in hostilities. Attacking them is a war crime.
- UN Security Council Resolution 1738 (2006) explicitly prohibits targeting media personnel in conflict zones.
- The UN Human Rights Office called the Al-Shifa strike a “grave breach” of international law.
- Smear campaigns, such as the IDF’s public targeting of al-Sharif in the weeks before his death, are considered by experts to be precursors to assassination.
Erasing Truth, Enabling Genocide
Whether by missile, smear, or blockade, the elimination of Gaza’s journalists is not collateral damage — it is a calculated effort to silence the last witnesses to a genocide under siege. Without them, the historical record collapses into the narrative of the occupying power, and the voices of the dead are erased along with their chroniclers.
