The Israel Defense Forces announced they had killed an individual in Gaza who they alleged was masquerading as an Al Jazeera journalist. However, the news organization contested this, stating Anas al-Sharif was indeed a journalist and, along with four other team members, was killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike.

In its coverage, Al Jazeera termed the killings of al-Sharif and four other staffers murder.

According to Al Jazeera, those killed included al-Sharif, fellow journalist Mohammed Qreiqeh, and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa.

The network reported that they died “in a targeted Israeli strike on a tent housing journalists in Gaza City.”

The IDF alleged that al-Sharif was leading a terrorist cell within the Hamas organization, responsible for orchestrating rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and military forces.

In a statement regarding the incident, the IDF claimed to have previously released intelligence and numerous documents discovered in the Gaza Strip that purportedly verify al-Sharif’s affiliation with Hamas.

Al Jazeera reported that al-Sharif was a well-known Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who reported extensively from northern Gaza.

The network said that 10 of its staff have been killed by Israel since Israel launched the war in Gaza in 2023.

Israel initiated its military campaign in Gaza, aimed at Hamas, following the group’s terror attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, during which 251 individuals were taken hostage. Civilians, including those at a music festival, were among the primary targets of these attacks.

Over 61,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the offensive began, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the enclave.

Funded by Qatar’s government, Al Jazeera faces accusations from the Israeli government of biased reporting on the conflicts and hostilities involving Israel and Palestinian territories.

In May 2024, Israel’s government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted to shut down the channel’s local offices. Netanyahu at the time called it an incitement channel.

A Jazeera has repeatedly denied the allegations of incitement made by Israel.

Israel last week said that it will take control of Gaza City, an escalation of the war. The move was criticized, and Germany announced that it is suspending the export to Israel of military equipment that could be used in Gaza.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said that Israel has a longstanding practice of accusing journalists of being terrorists without providing credible evidence.

It called al-Sharif one of Al Jazeera’s best-known journalists, who has recently been reporting on starvation in Gaza to a lack of aid allowed in the territory.

“Israel’s pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah said in a statement. “Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable.”

After an IDF spokesperson accused al-Sharif of being affiliated with Hamas’ military wing in July, al-Sharif told the CPJ that he was being retaliated against for news coverage that made Israel look bad.

“All of this is happening because my coverage of the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip harms them and damages their image in the world. They accuse me of being a terrorist because the occupation wants to assassinate me morally,” al-Sharif told the CPJ then.