The IDF targeted a tent near the al-Shifa Hospital, killing two Al-Jazeera correspondents.
Al Jazeera confirmed journalist Anas al-Sharif was killed while in a tent outside the main gate of the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Drop Site News reports that a second journalist, Mohammed Quraqa, was killed by the strike. A third reporter, Mohammed Subh, was wounded in the attack.
Last week, Israeli army spokesperson Avichai Adraee claimed al-Sharif was a member of Hamas. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) responded to Adraee’s remarks by warning Israel could soon target Sharif.
“This is not the first time Al-Sharif has been targeted by the Israeli military, but the danger to his life is now acute,” CPJ’s Regional Director Sara Qudah said in a statement. Al-Jazeera also denounced the label as a “campaign of incitement” against its reporters in Gaza.
Al-Jazeera “strongly condemns and denounces these relentless efforts, which have consistently incited against its staff since the beginning of its coverage of the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza,” a statement from the outlet on Friday said. “The Network considers this incitement a dangerous attempt to justify the targeting of its journalists in the field.”
Israel has killed over 230 journalists in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Before the murders of Sharif and Quraqa, six Al-Jazeera journalists had been murdered by Israel in 22 months.
Last month, 38 Western news agencies issued a letter calling on Israel to allow journalists into Gaza. “The death toll among journalists has been staggering, almost incomprehensible,” the letter said. “As local reporters are killed, face the threat of starvation, or try to flee, the world will be systematically cut off from witnessing what is happening. This cannot be allowed to happen.”
