- Web Desk
- Today
Who was Anas al-Sharif, the Al Jazeera journalist martyred by Israel?
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- Web Desk
- Aug 11, 2025
Five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in an Israeli airstrike near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City last night. Among the fallen was Anas al-Sharif, a renowned member of the journalistic community, associated with Al Jazeera. His tragic death has left a deep mark on both his colleagues and the global journalistic community, as well as on everyone who looked up to al-Sharif for sharing the plight of Palestinian people to the world, unadulterated by propaganda, clean of any falsification.
In his own final words, Anas al-Sharif “lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification—so that Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and 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.”
The global community has unanimously cried out at the blatant injustice and cruelty of his targeted assassination. Prem Thakker, associated with Mehdi Hasan’s Zeteo News said, “Between a “No Other Land” crew mate filming himself being killed by a settler, to a journalist being killed by airstrikes he was covering minutes earlier, I’m not sure how much more televised Israel’s genocide can be”
British MP Jeremy Corbyn wrote, “The deliberate and relentless killing of Palestinian journalists is sickening beyond words — and is a desperate attempt to silence the truth about Israel’s ongoing crimes against humanity. Shame on all those who empowered Israel to murder with impunity.”
British author Carole Cadwalladr wrote, “Entire news crew wiped out: 2 journalists + 2 cameramen. Killed by Israel which has killed more journalists than died in WW1, WW2, Vietnam, Afghanistan & Yugoslavia combined.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it targeted al-Sharif because he was “heading a Hamas cell.” According to a report by Al Jazeera, “Muhammed Shehada, an analyst at the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, said there was ‘zero evidence’ that al-Sharif took part in any hostilities.” The United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of expression, Irene Khan, had also said that “she was deeply alarmed by repeated threats and accusations of the Israeli army against al-Sharif.”
Journalist and author Ryan Grim said, “The idea that someone would “pose” as a journalist by doing live reporting all day, every day, for two straight years – but is actually secretly a terrorist (when??) – is so stupid it demonstrates how much power Israel believes it has.
FROM A REFUGEE CAMP TO A GLOBAL SYMBOL OF COURAGE
Anas al-Sharif was born in 1996 in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. He later graduated with a degree in mass communication from Al-Aqsa University, focusing on radio and television. Al-Sharif began his career volunteering with the Al-Shamal Media Network before joining Al Jazeera as a northern Gaza correspondent.
By October 2023, al-Sharif had become one of the most prominent voices reporting from the frontlines of the Gaza war. Despite repeated Israeli orders to evacuate and direct threats to his life, he refused to leave northern Gaza. He continued to report daily amid airstrikes, massacres, and widespread displacement, often working in dire conditions with severe shortages of basic supplies. His reports offered the world rare and invaluable footage from one of the most dangerous and inaccessible conflict zones.
In November 2023, al-Sharif received multiple calls from the Israeli military urging him to leave northern Gaza. A month later, tragedy struck when his father was killed in an Israeli airstrike on their family home in Jabalia. His father, in poor health, had been unable to evacuate with the rest of the family. Al-Sharif described this loss as both “cruel” and “painful,” but it only solidified his determination to keep documenting the suffering of Gaza’s people.
In January 2025, while reporting on a ceasefire during the Gaza war, al-Sharif symbolically removed his protective gear, an act that was met with cheers from bystanders who lifted him on their shoulders in celebration.
After his death, Quds News Network shared photos of Anas al-Sharif as a child, watching reporters covering Israel’s 2008–2009 bombing of Gaza. At the time, just a boy himself, he watched reporters in action, dreaming of one day becoming one himself.
