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Late connected Sunday, an Israeli onslaught shook al-Shifa Hospital successful Gaza City, targeting a journalists’ structure by the gate.
As radical rushed to help, it became evident that 5 Al Jazeera unit had been killed, including Anas al-Sharif, 1 of the astir celebrated faces of Arabic reporting from Gaza.
Why did Israel privation to termination journalists? What happened that night? Here’s what we know:
Who were the 5 Al Jazeera unit Israel killed?
Al Jazeera analogous Anas al-Sharif, 28, was 1 of Gaza’s astir recognisable faces for his changeless reporting of the world connected the crushed implicit the past 22 months. The begetter of 2 was calved successful Jabalia exile campy and graduated from Al-Aqsa University’s Faculty of Media. His begetter was killed by Israel successful an aerial onslaught connected the household location successful December 2023.
Al Jazeera analogous Mohammed Qreiqeh, 33, made his past unrecorded study connected air lone soon earlier his assassination, speaking successful his trademark eloquent manner. Qreiqeh was calved successful Gaza City successful 1992 and lived successful the Shujayea neighbourhood. He earned a BA successful journalism and media astatine the Islamic University of Gaza. Israel killed his brother, Karim, successful March successful an aerial onslaught connected Gaza City.
(Al Jazeera)Al Jazeera cameraman Ibrahim Zaher, 25, was from Jabalia exile campy successful bluish Gaza.
Al Jazeera cameraman Mohammed Noufal, 29, was besides from Jabalia. He mislaid his parent and 1 member successful earlier Israeli attacks. His different brother, Ibrahim, besides works arsenic a cameraman for Al Jazeera.
What were they doing erstwhile they were killed?
They were working.
The squad was successful a structure by the main gross of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital precocious connected Sunday evening.
The structure was wherever they worked, arsenic journalists successful Gaza person gathered astatine hospitals to question amended energy and net connections, a information that has been well-known since the commencement of Israel’s warfare connected Gaza.
“I’m not acold from al-Shifa Hospital, conscionable 1 artifact away, and I could perceive the monolithic detonation that took spot successful the past fractional an hr oregon so, adjacent al-Shifa Hospital,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported yesterday.
“I could spot it erstwhile it lit up the entity and, wrong moments, the quality circulated that it was the writer campy astatine the main gross of the al-Shifa Hospital.”
What happened?
Al Jazeera’s newsman Hani al-Shaer said an Israeli drone deed the journalists’ structure astatine astir 11:35pm (20:35 GMT) connected Sunday night.
Shortly earlier being killed, al-Sharif wrote connected X that Israel had launched intense, concentrated bombardment – besides known arsenic “fire belts” – connected the eastbound and confederate parts of Gaza City.
Journalist Amer al-Sultan was successful a neighbouring structure erstwhile the onslaught took place.
“I came to the country and saw each the destruction,” al-Sultan said, lasting amid the tent’s wreckage, his backmost to a factual partition pocked and splattered from the attack. “[I thought] each our colleagues were martyred.”
Al-Sultan added that helium wasn’t definite who the journalists were who were successful the tent, but “when I started filming, I saw our colleagues Anas al-Sharif was connected the crushed and Mohammed Qreiqeh, who was connected fire.
“We started to propulsion him retired and effort to enactment retired the fire.”
The radical gathered determination tried to get Qreiqeh wrong al-Shifa Hospital, but helium succumbed to his wounds earlier they could get him treatment, al-Sultan said.
Mohammed Qeita, a freelance journalist, was besides nearby.
“I was not conscionable a witnesser to the event, I was portion of it…The occurrence was precise strong.
“Even now, I can’t judge it,” helium said.
“We knew Anas was the target… He was our voice.”
How did Israel explicate deliberately sidesplitting journalists?
It said 1 of them wasn’t truly a journalist.
Israel’s service posted astir deliberately sidesplitting the journalists, claiming it had wanted to termination al-Sharif, who it accused of being an equipped commandant for Hamas lone posing arsenic a journalist.
In the statement, it accused al-Sharif of “advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and troops” and alleged it had documents providing “unequivocal proof” of this.
Muhammad Shehada, an expert astatine the European Council connected Foreign Relations, said determination was “zero evidence” that al-Sharif took portion successful immoderate hostilities.
“His full regular daily was lasting successful beforehand of a camera from greeting to evening,” helium told Al Jazeera.
On galore occasions implicit the past 22 months, Israel has justified sidesplitting reporters by claiming they belonged to equipped groups. Groups focused connected property state and media workers’ rights person said for months that Israel is deliberately targeting journalists successful Gaza.
Two of the astir salient incidents included writer Hamza Dahdouh, lad of Al Jazeera’s Gaza Bureau Chief Wael Dahdouh, and writer Hossam Shabat, who were some assassinated by Israel and accused of being members of Hamas without immoderate evidence.
What did Al Jazeera say?
Al Jazeera called the sidesplitting of its unit a “targeted assassination … successful yet different blatant and premeditated onslaught connected property freedom”.
It said the journalists “were among the past remaining voices from wrong Gaza, providing the satellite with unfiltered, on-the-ground sum of the devastating realities endured by its people”.
Israel has banned planetary media from entering Gaza since October 2023, but “Al Jazeera journalists remained wrong besieged Gaza … [delivering] searing eyewitness accounts of the horrors unleashed implicit 22 months of relentless bombing and destruction,” the connection said.
Why did Israel privation to assassinate Anas al-Sharif?
Al-Sharif was the look of Al Jazeera Arabic successful Gaza and of iconic moments arsenic helium reported connected Israel’s atrocities successful the besieged, bombarded enclave.
For months, Israeli officials had threatened him, demanding that helium halt reporting, but helium refused, pledging to enactment successful bluish Gaza and proceed his coverage.
Numerous rights groups and property state groups called for al-Sharif’s extortion aft helium was straight threatened by Israel.
Israel ramped up a smear run connected al-Sharif successful caller months, with service spokesperson Avichay Adraee calling retired al-Sharif by sanction successful a video connected X past month, accusing him of being portion of Hamas’s subject wing.
(Al Jazeera)Irene Khan, UN peculiar rapporteur connected state of expression, said past period that Adraee made “an unsubstantiated claim” and called the smear a “blatant battle connected journalists”.
Israel sidesplitting al-Sharif was a targeted effort to unopen down sum of its atrocities, erstwhile Executive Director of Human Rights Watch Ken Roth said.
“This is not an accidental killing. This is not a writer who happened to get caught successful Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment of Palestinian civilians successful general.
“This was a targeted killing,” Roth told Al Jazeera.
Authorities successful Gaza accidental Israel has killed nearly 270 journalists and media workers since it launched its warfare connected Gaza.
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