Israeli Strike Kills Al Jazeera Journalist Anas Al-Sharif in Gaza, His Final Words Urge World: ‘Do Not Forget Gaza’
By IDNN International Affairs Desk
Anas Al-Sharif killed in Gaza — a voice silenced in the heart of the war, leaving behind both a legacy of fearless reporting and a haunting final message. The 28-year-old Al Jazeera correspondent was among five journalists killed in an Israeli airstrike late Sunday on a tent marked “Press” at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital.
Hospital director Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya said at least seven people died in the strike, including journalists Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa, and Mohammed Noufal. The tent, used as a media coordination point, was obliterated.
His Final Words
Hours after his death, a scheduled post appeared on Al-Sharif’s X account — a meticulously prepared will addressed to his family, colleagues, and the world:
“If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.
Allah knows I gave every effort… to be a support and a voice for my people… I entrust you with Palestine… I urge you not to let chains silence you… Do not forget Gaza. And do not forget me in your sincere prayers.”
He spoke of his longing to return with his family to their ancestral town of Asqalan (al-Majdal), of his two children — Sham and Salah — whom he would never watch grow up, and of his wife Umm Salah (Bayan), “steadfast as the trunk of an olive tree.”
“If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles… make my blood a light that illuminates the path of freedom for my people.”
From Cameraman to War’s Witness
Al-Sharif joined Al Jazeera in December 2023 after his raw footage from Jabalya refugee camp went viral. Initially reluctant to appear on camera, he became Gaza’s daily voice to the Arab world — reporting from bomb sites, hospitals, and shelters.
His father was killed in an earlier airstrike. By his own count, he slept in “30 to 40 different places” during the war — from ambulances to warehouses — to stay close to the story.
Israel’s Allegations and Rights Groups’ Condemnation
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accuse Al-Sharif of being a Hamas operative involved in rocket attacks. He denied these claims weeks before his death, as did UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan.
The Committee to Protect Journalists called the killing “appalling” and part of a “documented pattern” of accusing journalists without credible proof. CPJ says 192 journalists have been killed since the war began — 184 of them Palestinian.
The Larger Pattern
International reporters remain barred from entering Gaza without Israeli military escorts. Media rights advocates warn that such access restrictions, coupled with the high death toll among local journalists, threaten independent war coverage and global understanding of the conflict.
Al Jazeera has labelled the strike “a deliberate assassination” and vowed legal action in international courts.
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