On August 10–11, 2025, an Israeli airstrike on a press tent near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City killed five Al Jazeera journalists, including prominent correspondent Anas al-Sharif. According to Reuters, the attack took place beside the hospital’s emergency entrance — an area known to be crowded with civilians and aid workers. The Israeli military quickly claimed al-Sharif was affiliated with Hamas — an assertion strongly rejected by Al Jazeera and condemned by press freedom groups as part of a broader campaign to smear and silence journalists.
Targeting Journalists: A Clear Violation of International Law
Under Article 79 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (ICRC), journalists operating in conflict zones “shall be considered civilians” and must be protected from deliberate attack unless directly participating in hostilities. The killing of clearly identified journalists — especially when they are in a designated press area — is thus a grave breach of international humanitarian law.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has recorded that the war in Gaza has become “the deadliest conflict for reporters in modern history”, with over 227 Palestinian journalists killed since October 2023. The UN Human Rights Office has warned that such strikes may amount to war crimes if proven intentional.
As the BBC reports, Al Jazeera insisted its journalists were covering the humanitarian crisis and posed no threat — making Israel’s justification legally indefensible. International law does not permit the killing of civilian reporters simply because they may hold political views or have social connections in their communities.
Source: BBC
Censorship and Control: Obstructing Documentation of Atrocities
For months, Israel has maintained tight restrictions on independent reporting from Gaza, denying entry to most foreign journalists unless embedded with its own forces. This strategy effectively ensures that the only imagery and narratives emerging are those approved by the Israeli military.
As Dawn’s analysis notes, silencing journalists is not incidental — it is part of a deliberate campaign to limit the world’s exposure to evidence of potential war crimes and mass civilian suffering. Such media control aligns with the long-established principle in authoritarian warfare: kill the story by killing the storyteller.
These measures directly contravene Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (OHCHR), which protects the right to seek, receive, and impart information regardless of frontiers. When combined with targeted killings, they form a powerful apparatus of state-driven censorship.
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike where Al Jazeera says its journalists Anas Al Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh and three photojournalists were killed, in Gaza City on August 11, 2025.
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Repressing Freedom of Speech: Silencing the Witnesses
In his final prepared message — released only upon his death — Anas al-Sharif wrote: “Israel silenced my voice… convey the truth without distortion.” It is a chilling testament to the reality that journalists in Gaza operate under a constant threat of assassination.
Killing journalists does more than remove a witness — it erases a line of accountability. Without them, stories of indiscriminate bombing, targeting of hospitals, and forced displacement risk being lost to propaganda and state-crafted narratives. This is precisely why UN Security Council Resolution 1738 (2006) (UN) reaffirms the protection of journalists in armed conflict and condemns acts of violence against them.
Israel as Perpetrator of Violence
a) Weaponizing Allegations to Justify Killings
Israel’s claim that al-Sharif was a Hamas operative was immediately refuted by his employer and contradicted by his decades-long career as a war correspondent. This mirrors earlier cases in which Israel accused slain reporters of militant ties without presenting verifiable evidence — a tactic that serves to both justify the killing and tarnish the journalist’s legacy.
b) Structural Impunity
Despite the killings of hundreds of journalists, there have been no credible investigations or prosecutions by Israeli authorities. The absence of accountability — reinforced by muted responses from allied nations — emboldens further attacks. As Reuters notes, international outrage has not translated into tangible consequences.
c) Complicity Through International Silence
The muted reaction of global powers, particularly the United States, reflects a troubling political calculation. As Dawn highlights, Washington continues military and diplomatic support for Israel even in the face of mounting evidence of attacks on civilians and journalists — sending a dangerous message that press freedom is negotiable in geopolitics.
d) The Chilling Effect on Global Journalism
These killings reverberate far beyond Gaza. They set a precedent that emboldens other states to treat journalists as expendable in wartime. If the intentional killing of reporters goes unpunished here, it risks eroding global press protection norms everywhere.
Four Al Jazeera staff, including reporter Anas Al Sharif, were killed in an Israeli attack on a tent for journalists outside the main gate of Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital https://t.co/MMKatjgeAa pic.twitter.com/OBgVFrn0ax
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 10, 2025
Why This Matters: Genocide, Accountability, and the Right to Know
International legal scholars increasingly describe Israel’s war in Gaza as meeting the legal threshold for genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) (UN Treaty Collection). Central to proving genocide is documenting acts and intent — a process heavily reliant on journalists and humanitarian observers.
By killing those who record the evidence, Israel is not merely committing isolated war crimes; it is actively dismantling the mechanisms by which such crimes are proven and prosecuted. This is why targeting journalists in Gaza is not just about silencing individual voices — it is about erasing the historical record.
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Conclusion
The killing of five Al Jazeera journalists — most notably Anas al-Sharif — is a direct assault on international law, press freedom, and the world’s right to know. Under the Geneva Conventions, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and UN Security Council resolutions, journalists are to be protected, not hunted.
Israel’s deliberate targeting, coupled with censorship and smear campaigns, reveals a systematic effort to suppress evidence of atrocities in Gaza. This is not an unfortunate by-product of war; it is an intentional strategy that serves both military and political objectives.
The international community faces a choice: to either confront these actions with sanctions, legal proceedings, and diplomatic pressure — or to allow this precedent to stand, thereby inviting similar attacks on the press in conflicts worldwide.
If the truth is the first casualty of war, then the killing of journalists is its execution.
