When the ceasefire in Gaza took hold in January, Anas al-Sharif began removing protective gear live on television.
Almost seven months later, Israel killed an Al Jazeera journalist and four colleagues on a strike in Gaza city.
One of Gaza’s most famous Palestinian journalists, one of the dozens killed by Israel during the war – Al-Sharif’s death calls for international condemnation and accountability.
The 28-year-old has become well-known as the face of Gaza’s tales by millions, while Israel blocked international media from accessing territory. Little known before the war, he quickly became famous in the Arab world due to his daily coverage of conflict and its humanitarian sacrifice.
His report provided a first-hand account of key moments in the conflict, including a short-lived ceasefire on the territory, the release of Israeli hostages, and the tragic tales of starvation that shocked the world.
Al Jazeera recruited Al Sharif in December 2023 after social media footage of the Israeli strike in her hometown of Jabariya went viral. The professional photographer was then initially reluctant to appear in the air, but was persuaded by a colleague to draw his report to the front.
“It never even appeared on local channels, let alone international channels,” he was quoted as saying at Sotoll Media Outlet in February. “The happiest person was my late father.” His father was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jabaria, shortly after Al Sharif began appearing in Al Jazeera.
The father of two has appeared on the channel almost every day since he began working.
“We (the journalists) slept in hospitals, streets, vehicles, ambulances, shelters, warehouses, shelters. I slept in 30-40 different places,” he told the outlet.
After he took off his protective gear in the air in January, the crowd lifted him up on his shoulder in celebration.
“This armor has been removed from my tired helmet and has become an extension of my body,” he said live at Al Jazeera, paying homage to his colleague who was killed and injured in an Israeli strike in Gaza.
He allegedly warned him to stop his work for Al Jazeera, a network that has already lost several staff members to Israeli actions in Gaza, including Ismail Al Ghur and Hosam Shabbat, who were killed last year.
“Finally, the (Israel army) sent me a voice memo about my whatsapp number… The intelligence officer told me… “You’ll have time to leave where you are and go south and stop reporting for Al Jazeera”… I was reporting from a live hospital.”
“A few minutes later, the room I was reporting was hit,” he said.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Israel first accused Al-Sharif of linking with Hamas 10 months ago. It is unclear why he decided to target him.
In a statement confirming his targeted killing, the IDF accused Al-Sharif of leading Hamassel in Gaza, coordinating “rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF forces.”
In October 2024, Israeli military released documents claiming it had nominated five Al Jazeer Journalists who presented “clear evidence” of their relationship with Hamas with Al Sharif and described them as part of an extremist group. An Israeli Army spokesman said in a video for X that Al-Sharif joined Hamas Battalion in 2013 and injured in training in 2017.
“I reaffirm. I, Anas Al Sharif, is a journalist with no political affiliation. My only mission is to report the truth from the ground. “When fatal hunger is destroying Gaza, speaking the truth has become a threat to the eyes of occupation.”
Following the murder of the journalist, an IDF Arabic spokesman has released several photos of Yahya Sinwar and Al-Sharif, the late Hamas leaders who masterminded the October 7, 2023 attack. Israel killed Singhwar in October 2024.
According to the hospital’s director Dr Mohamad Abu Salmiyah, Al Sharif was in a tent with other journalists near the entrance to Al Shifa Hospital when he was killed on Sunday.
The tent had a “press” sign, Abu Salmiyah told CNN. The strike killed at least seven people, Salmiya added.
Al Jazeera said correspondent Mohamed Kreike and photojournalists Ibrahim Al Tar and Moammen Aliwa were also killed on strike.
The murder of Al Sharif prompted criticism from rights groups and officials. The committee protecting journalists said it was “crowding,” adding that Israel “has “a long-standing documented pattern of journalists accusing them of being terrorists without providing credible evidence.”
The CPJ added that 192 journalists have been killed since the start of the war almost two years ago, and that “184 of these journalists have been killed by Palestinians by Israel.”
Since the start of the war, Israel has not allowed international journalists to enter Gaza to report independently.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said foreign journalists would be allowed to enter Gaza hours before the strike that killed Al Sharif and his colleagues, but he said that just accompanied Israeli military approval, the same embedded policy has been in place since the start of the war.
Al-Sharif was buried in Gaza on Monday, captivating a crowd of Palestinian mourners.
Anticipating his own death, Al Sharif wrote the will to be released by his colleagues after he was killed.
“I suffered from all the details, and I had experienced many pains and losses, but I never once had the hesitation to tell the truth without distortion or tampering.
“Don’t forget Gaza…and do not forget me in your sincere prayers.
