Late Sunday, an Israeli strike rocked the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, targeting a journalist tent near the door.
While people rushed to help, it has become obvious that five employees of Tel Aviv Tribune had been killed, notably Anas Al-Sharif, one of the most famous faces of the Arab reports of Gaza.
Why did Israel want to kill journalists? What happened that night? Here is what we know:
Who were the five employees of Tel Aviv Tribune who killed?
Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent, Anas Al-Sharif, 28, was one of Gaza’s most recognizable faces for his constant report on the field in the last 22 months. The father of two was born at Jabalia refugee camp and graduated from the media faculty of Al-Aqsa University. His father was killed by Israel during an air strike at the family home in December 2023.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent, Mohammed Qreiqeh, 33, made his last report live only a short time before his assassination, speaking in his eloquent manner. Qreiqeh was born in Gaza City in 1992 and lived in the district of Shujayea. He obtained a BA in journalism and media at the Islamic University of Gaza. Israel killed his brother, Karim, in March in an air attack on Gaza City.
Tel Aviv Tribune Cameraman Ibrahim Zaher, 25, was from Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Tel Aviv Tribune Cameraman Mohammed Noufal, 29, was also from Jabalia. He lost his mother and a brother during Israeli attacks earlier. His other brother, Ibrahim, also works as a cameraman for Tel Aviv Tribune.
What were they doing when they were killed?
They worked.
The team was in a tent near the main door of the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday evening.
The tent was the place they worked because the journalists from Gaza gathered in hospitals to seek better electricity and internet connections, a well -known fact since the start of the War of Israel against Gaza.
“I am not far from the Al-Shifa hospital, just a pâté of houses, and I was able to hear the massive explosion that took place during the last half hour, near the Al-Shifa hospital,” Hani Mahmoud of Tel Aviv Tribune reported yesterday.
“I could see him when he illuminated the sky and, in a few moments, the news circulated that it was the camp of journalists at the main door of the Al-Shifa hospital.”
What happened?
Tel Aviv Tribune journalist, Hani Al-Shaer, said that an Israeli drone hit journalists’ tent around 11:35 p.m. (20:35 GMT) on Sunday evening.
Shortly before being killed, Al -Sharif wrote on X that Israel had launched an intense and concentrated bombardment – also known as “fire belts” – in the eastern and southern parts of Gaza City.
Amer Al-Sultan journalist was in a neighboring tent when the attack took place.
“I came to the scene and I saw all the destruction,” Al-Sultan told Tel Aviv Tribune Mubasher, standing in the middle of the wreck of the tent, back to a concrete wall and splashed with the attack. “(I thought) all our colleagues were martyred.”
Al-Sultan added that he was not sure of who were the journalists who were in the tent, but “when I started to film, I saw our colleagues Anas Al-Sharif was on the ground and Mohammed Qreiqeh, who was on fire.
“We started to remove it and try to turn off the fire.”
People gathered there have tried to get Qreiqeh inside the Al-Shifa Hospital, but he died of his injuries before being able to treat him, said Al-Sultan.
Mohammed Qeita, an independent journalist, was also nearby.
“I was not only a witness to the event, I was part … The fire was very strong.
“Even now, I can’t believe it,” he said.
“We knew that Anas was the target … he was our voice.”
How did Israel deliberately explain journalists to kill?
He said that one of them was not really a journalist.
The army of Israel posted on the fact of deliberately killing the journalists, saying that he wanted to kill Al-Sharif, that he accused of being an armed commander for Hamas not passing for a journalist.
In the press release, he accused Al-Sharif of having “progressed rocket attacks against civilians and Israeli troops” and alleged that he had documents providing “unequivocal proof” of this.
Muhammad Shehada, analyst in the European Council on foreign relations, said that there was “no evidence” that Al-Sharif had participated in hostilities.
“All his daily routine was held in front of a camera from morning to night,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune.
On numerous occasions in the past 22 months, Israel has justified killing journalists saying that they belonged to armed groups. Press freedom groups and media workers’ rights have said for months that Israel deliberately targeted journalists in Gaza.
Two of the most important incidents included journalist Hamza Dahdouh, son of the chief of the Tel Aviv Tribune Gaza office, Wael Dahdouh, and journalist Hossam Shabat, who were both murdered by Israel and accused of being members of Hamas without any evidence.
What does Tel Aviv Tribune say?
Tel Aviv Tribune described the murder of its staff a “targeted assassination … in yet another flagrant and premeditated attack against press freedom”.
He said journalists “were among the last remaining votes of Gaza, providing the world with an undeveloped coverage and on the ground of devastating realities endured by his people”.
Israel has prohibited international media from entering Gaza since October 2023, but “Tel Aviv Tribune journalists have remained in the accounts of besieged eyewitness of Gaza …
Why did Israel want to murder Anas Al-Sharif?
Al-Sharif was the face of Tel Aviv Tribune Arabic in Gaza and emblematic moments as he reported on the atrocities of Israel in the besieged and bombed enclave.
For months, Israeli officials had threatened him, demanding that he stop arising, but he refused, committing to stay in northern Gaza and continue his coverage.
Numerous rights defending rights and press groups have called for the protection of Al-Sharif after being directly threatened by Israel.
Israel has accelerated a defamation campaign on Al-Sharif in recent months, the army spokesman Avichay Adraee called Al-Sharif by name in a video on X last month, accusing him of being part of the Hamas military wing.
Irene Khan, UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, said last month that Adraee had made “an unfounded complaint” and described the smear “blatant against journalists”.
Israel Killing Al-Sharif was a targeted attempt to close the coverage of its atrocities, said former executive director of Human Rights Watch, Ken Roth.
“It is not an accidental murder. It is not a journalist who was caught in the blind bombing of Israel of Palestinian civilians in general.
“It was a targeted murder,” Roth told Tel Aviv Tribune.
The authorities of Gaza say that Israel has killed nearly 270 journalists and media workers since its launch of its war against Gaza.
