Anas al-Sharif knew his press credentials didn’t protect him in Gaza—they made him a target. Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) warned the 28-year-old Al Jazeera reporter was in grave danger as Israeli forces escalated online attacks against him. These weren’t just insults, he said—they were death threats for his reporting. Now he’s dead, one of five media workers killed in a Sunday airstrike.
The CPJ reports over 180 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed in nearly two years of war—more than the global total of journalist deaths in the previous three years. This isn’t just due to Gaza’s staggering death toll (officially 61,599, mostly women and children, with independent estimates higher) or the bravery of reporters in war zones. The CPJ says at least 26 were deliberately targeted.
Israeli officials boasted of killing Sharif, claiming he led a Hamas cell planning rocket attacks—an allegation both he and Al Jazeera denied. It seems unlikely a high-profile journalist could simultaneously command a militant unit. Israel’s evidence consisted of unverified spreadsheet screenshots dated two years before the war.
Israel has repeatedly offered shifting, misleading accounts of events, including this spring’s killing of Gaza paramedics. In 2022, an IDF general privately told U.S. officials an Israeli soldier likely shot Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh—while publicly blaming Palestinian militants. No explanation has been given for Sharif’s colleagues’ deaths.
Sharif’s 90-year-old father died in a late 2023 airstrike after Israeli officials ordered the journalist to stop reporting and leave Gaza. Accusations of Hamas ties resurfaced last month when his emotional starvation reports went viral. His death came amid global outrage over Gaza’s famine, just as Israel announced a ground offensive in Gaza City—a move many in its military reportedly oppose. With the Al Jazeera team gone, few remain to document what happens next. International reporters can only enter Gaza on military-escorted trips where they’re barred from speaking to Palestinians.
Backed by the U.S., Israel’s government remains unmoved as global opinion turns against it—even allies recoil at Gaza’s horrors. The Al Jazeera killings have drawn widespread condemnation. Reporters Without Borders has urged the ICC to investigate media worker treatment.
“If these words reach you, know Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice,” Sharif wrote in a posthumous statement. Targeting journalists is a war crime—an attack on truth itself. But it can’t hide Israel’s other atrocities. Instead, it adds to the charges against its leaders.
Correction: An earlier version misstated Shireen Abu Akleh’s death year as 2023. It was 2022.
FAQS
### **FAQs About *The Guardian*’s Editorial on Anas al-Sharif and Gaza’s Journalists**
#### **Basic Questions**
1. **What is *The Guardian*’s editorial about?**
*The Guardian* argues that Israel is systematically silencing journalists in Gaza, like Anas al-Sharif, to suppress reporting on the conflict.
2. **Who is Anas al-Sharif?**
Anas al-Sharif is a Palestinian journalist in Gaza whose work documents Israeli military actions. *The Guardian* highlights him as an example of journalists being targeted.
3. **What does “silencing witnesses” mean in this context?**
It refers to Israel allegedly restricting, intimidating, or harming journalists to prevent them from reporting on events in Gaza.
4. **Why does *The Guardian* focus on Gaza’s journalists?**
Because journalists in Gaza face extreme risks, including arrests, attacks, and censorship, making it harder for the world to see what’s happening.
#### **Intermediate Questions**
5. **What evidence does *The Guardian* provide for its claims?**
The editorial cites cases of journalists killed, detained, or threatened, along with restrictions on foreign media access to Gaza.
6. **How does Israel justify its actions toward journalists?**
Israel claims some journalists have ties to militant groups, but critics argue this is used to justify excessive restrictions.
7. **Are international laws being violated?**
*The Guardian* suggests that targeting journalists may breach international humanitarian law, which protects press freedom in conflict zones.
8. **How does this affect global understanding of the conflict?**
Fewer journalists mean fewer firsthand reports, leading to gaps in information and potential misinformation.
#### **Advanced Questions**
9. **What is the broader impact of silencing journalists in war zones?**
It undermines accountability, enables human rights abuses to go unreported, and weakens democratic oversight.
10. **How does this compare to press freedom in other conflicts?**
Gaza’s journalists face uniquely high risks, with more reporters killed there in recent years than in many other war zones.
11. **What can be done to protect journalists in Gaza?**
*The Guardian* calls for international pressure on Israel to uphold press freedom and investigate attacks on journalists.
12. **
