Murder of Anas Al-Sharif and colleagues a clear war crime; Sanctions urgently needed.
London, 11th August – The Israeli airstrike against the Al Jazeera media tent at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday evening is a clear war crime, demonstrable of both Israel’s systematic targeting of journalists and its continued attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system.
The perpetrators of the attack must be held to account for the killing of Al Jazeera journalists Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, and two others. Killed in Gaza City’s north, the murders of Al-Sharif, Qreiqeh and their colleagues were committed to prevent their reporting to international audiences on the atrocities that will inevitably follow from Israel’s planned invasion of Gaza City.
With over 180 Palestinian journalists killed by Israel and a further 90 imprisoned over the past two years, accountability must follow for their murders and for the longstanding and systematic targeting of Palestine’s journalists. ICJP calls for full international investigations into the crime against humanity of murder and for violations of the protected status of journalists; with targeted sanctions against Israel’s military and political leadership urgently warranted.
In the two weeks up to the murder of Anas Al-Sharif, one of Gaza’s best known and most popular journalists, the Israeli military accused him of having been a member of Hamas’ military wing for over a decade. Yesterday, the military alleged he had headed a Hamas cell which fired rockets into Israel. As with similar allegations launched against innumerate other journalists, academics, and healthcare workers after their murder, no proof was issued for these claims of militant activity.
Responding to the military’s attacks on his character, Al-Sharif told the Committee to Protect Journalists two weeks before his killing that “All of this is happening because my coverage of the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip harms them and damages their image in the world. They accuse me of being a terrorist because the occupation wants to assassinate me morally.”
Responding to the threats on Al-Sharif’s character and life in late July, UN Expert on freedom of expression Irene Khan stated her deep concern for Al-Sharif’s safety, noting that “Killings, attacks, arbitrary detention and harassment of Palestinian journalists and the destruction of press facilities and equipment in Gaza and the West Bank are part of a deliberate strategy of Israel to suppress the truth, obstruct the documentation of international crimes and bury any possibility of future accountability”.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
- The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians is an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.
- For more information, to arrange an interview with a spokesperson, or to view a full copy of the letter, please contact the ICJP news desk at press@icjpalestine.com.
- For Anas Al-Sharif’s comments to the Committee to Protect Journalists, see https://cpj.org/2025/08/israel-kills-al-jazeera-journalists-in-targeted-gaza-city-airstrike/
- For Irene Khan’s comments, see https://www.un.org/unispal/document/gaza-un-expert-denounces-serious-threats-by-israeli-army-against-al-jazeera-correspondent/
- For ICJP’s work on Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian journlists, see https://www.icjpalestine.com/2022/09/16/lawyers-to-hand-deliver-complaint-to-the-international-criminal-court-on-behalf-of-shireen-abu-aklehs-family-on-20-september-2022/