Who was Anas al-Sharif, the famous Al Jazeera journalist killed by Israel in Gaza and accused of having links to Hamas?

"Anas al-Sharif was an icon for us, an icon of journalism," journalist Mohamed Qita, who was in the store next door at the time of the Israeli attack that killed Al-Sharif and his colleagues at Al Jazeera, told Efe.

" This is the gravest crime against Palestinian journalists . This compels the international community to offer protection to Palestinian journalism," denounced Eid Firuani of the Palestinian Journalists' Union.

Al Sharif lived under threat for his reporting on the Israeli offensive in Gaza, but it was his images of himself crying while reporting on the famine that made him go viral. He suffered the threats, but so did his family: his home was attacked and his father murdered.

"If these words of mine reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice ," he said in his farewell letter, written in April but expected to be published precisely after his death.

"Today, it seems they want to punish Palestinian journalists for their extensive coverage exposing the crimes of the occupation , particularly the crime of famine, which has allowed the world to pressure the Israeli occupation," Firuani argues, believing this is merely a preliminary step toward silencing voices that might be reporting on Israel's upcoming plans to expand into Gaza.

Qita agrees: "I think the murder of Anas and Mohamed Qraiqea is a foretaste of the ground operation the occupation intends to carry out in Gaza City. This operation will be accompanied by numerous crimes (...) and if these crimes are not exposed, if we do not cover them up, we will all die ."

Six people died in the attack. Five worked for Al Jazeera (reporters Anas al Sharif and Mohamed Qraiqea; photojournalists Ibrahim Zaher and Moamen Aliwa; and assistant photojournalist Mohamed Nofal ). The sixth death, confirmed Monday after succumbing to his injuries, was Mohamed al Khalidi of the digital platform Sahat.

Al Sharif was born in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza in 1996.

According to The New Arab , she studied communications at Al-Aqsa University , specializing in radio and television. She began her career at Al-Shamal Media Network before joining Al Jazeera.

At 28, Al Sharif rose to fame for his extensive and tireless reporting from the front lines of the deadly war in Gaza, which began following Hamas's attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

He was also part of a Reuters news team that won a Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography in 2024 for its coverage of Israel's war in Gaza.

One of his most iconic moments was during the announcement of the ceasefire in Gaza in January of this year, when he removed his protective gear while reporting on the truce live on television. Residents carried him on their shoulders in jubilation at the announcement, which went viral online.

The New Arab reports that he refused to evacuate heavily bombed northern Gaza despite Israeli evacuation orders, and continued to report despite threats to life, dire conditions, and a lack of security.

In March, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based press freedom watchdog, said the Palestinian enclave had become one of the most dangerous places in the world to report.

The CPJ called in July for protection for Al-Sharif after an Israeli military spokesman claimed he was a Hamas militant, accusing Israel of a "pattern" of classifying journalists as activists in the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas "without providing credible evidence."

Five other journalists working for Al Jazeera were charged with the same offense.

The Qatari-based network vehemently rejected such accusations.

According to local journalists who knew him, Al Sharif had worked early in his career with a Hamas communications office, where his role was to promote events organized by the movement, which has exercised total control over Gaza since 2006.

Israel admitted killing the journalists in a precision strike and reiterated its assertion that al-Sharif was linked to Hamas, presenting as evidence two documents whose origin it did not specify and which cannot be verified.

He also posted on social media a selfie of the journalist posing with Hamas leaders and a table purportedly showing the names of members of the Palestinian Islamist movement, including the journalist's name and salary for the years 2013 and 2017.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has sharply criticized Israel for carrying out a "deliberate attack" on journalists that "reveals unimaginable crimes."

The UN condemned the "murder" of the reporters and urged Israel to "respect and protect all civilians, including journalists."

The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate called the attack a "bloody crime," and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was "horrified" by the deaths of the journalists.

Al Jazeera condemned "a desperate attempt to silence voices denouncing the Israeli occupation."