Hundreds of mourners gathered in Gaza City on Monday for the funeral of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif and four of his colleagues, a day after they were killed in an Israeli airstrike near al-Shifa hospital.
Sharif, one of the network’s most prominent correspondents in Gaza, died alongside fellow journalist Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa. The Qatar-based broadcaster reported that seven people were killed in total when the tent used by journalists outside the hospital was hit.
The funeral procession moved through Gaza City to Sheikh Radwan cemetery, where the journalists were buried. Their bodies, wrapped in white sheets, had been laid at al-Shifa hospital for mourners to pay their respects. Relatives, friends, and colleagues embraced as they gathered to honour the victims.
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged carrying out the strike and alleged Sharif was the leader of a Hamas cell, releasing what it claimed were documents linking him to the group. Al Jazeera and Sharif had previously denied such allegations. The Guardian reported that the claims could not be independently verified, as the IDF did not provide the documents or supporting evidence.
This was the first time during the current conflict that Israel’s military immediately accepted responsibility for the death of a journalist in a strike.
Sara Qudah, Middle East and North Africa director at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the repeated labelling of journalists as militants without credible evidence “raises serious questions about intent and respect for press freedom.”
In July, Sharif told CPJ he lived with the “feeling that I could be bombed and martyred at any moment.” Reporters Without Borders condemned what it described as the “acknowledged murder by the Israeli army” and urged international intervention. Al Jazeera called the strike “a desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza.”