Funerals held for five Al Jazeera journalists killed in Israeli strike on Gaza City media tent

Gaza City – August 11, 2025 – Hundreds of mourners gathered in Gaza City today for the funeral of five Al Jazeera journalists killed in what the network and rights groups are calling a deliberate targeted assassination by Israeli forces. The attack, which took place late Sunday night outside al-Shifa Hospital, also claimed the lives of two other people and injured at least three more journalists.

The strike hit a media tent where reporters had been sheltering and working, according to Al Jazeera’s Hani al-Shaer, who said the attack occurred at around 11:35pm local time. Footage from the funeral showed grieving crowds carrying the bodies through the streets, chanting in tribute to the slain reporters, and holding “PRESS” flak jackets aloft.

Those killed included:

• Anas al-Sharif (28), correspondent
• Mohammed Qreiqeh (33), correspondent
• Ibrahim Zaher (25), camera operator
• Mohammed Noufal (29), camera operator
• Moamen Aliwa (23), camera operator

Two freelance journalists, Mohammed al-Khaldi and one unnamed reporter, were also killed in the strike.

Relatives of al-Sharif, already in mourning after an earlier Israeli air strike in 2024 killed his father, carried his 15-month-old son Salah and 4-year-old daughter Sham during the funeral procession to Sheikh Radwan Cemetery.

Israel admits killing but labels journalists as militants
The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the strike, accusing al-Sharif of leading a Hamas cell – an allegation Al Jazeera and rights groups say is unfounded and part of a pattern of smearing Palestinian journalists posthumously.

A deadly pattern
This is the latest in a long list of targeted killings of Al Jazeera staff since the war began in October 2023. Previous victims include:

• Samer Abudaqa – killed December 14, 2023, in Khan Younis, left to bleed to death after medics were blocked.
• Hamza Dahdouh – killed January 7, 2024, in a missile strike.
• Ismail al-Ghoul & Rami al-Rifi – killed July 31, 2024, in Shati refugee camp despite clear media markings.
• Ahmed al-Louh – killed December 15, 2024, in Nuseirat camp.
• Hossam Shabat – killed March 24, 2025, in Beit Lahiya.

Since the war began, nearly 270 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza – an average of 13 every month – making it the deadliest conflict for journalists in recorded history. Rights groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), say Israel’s actions are creating a “news void” by wiping out the very reporters documenting the war’s impact.

Condemnation and calls for accountability
Al Jazeera condemned the killings as a “premeditated attack on press freedom.” RSF described al-Sharif as “the voice of the suffering Israel has imposed on Palestinians in Gaza” and compared the attack to the killing of journalist Ismail al-Ghoul in 2024.

Amnesty International called the killings a war crime and part of an Israeli strategy to “attack journalism itself by preventing the documentation of genocide.” The Palestinian mission to the UN accused Israel of systematically targeting reporters “to silence witnesses” to its military campaign.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s spokesperson called for a full investigation, stressing that journalists must be able to work without fear of being targeted.

Ongoing blockade and humanitarian crisis
The killings come just days after Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to seize Gaza City and forcibly displace nearly one million residents. Gaza remains under a total blockade, with all goods and people controlled by Israel. Since March 2, the siege has caused a starvation crisis, killing over 200 people – more than half of them children – in recent weeks.

As one mourner said during the funeral: “They wanted to silence their voices, but the whole world will hear them now.”