https://cpj.org/2025/08/israel-kills-al-jazeera-journalists-in-targeted-...
The six journalists were killed and two others were injured by a targeted strike on a tent used by media near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Aliwa was working as an assistant camera operator and logistics provider for Al Jazeera at the time of his death and was inside the Al Jazeera tent when it was struck, Mahmoud Elewa, the journalist’s brother, told CPJ. Al-Khaldi, who contributed to the Palestinian NGO Filastiniyat and the local online platform Sahat, was inside a nearby tent.
In a statement announcing the killing of al-Sharif, Israel’s military accused the journalist of heading a Hamas cell and of “advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and [Israeli] troops.”
Israel has a longstanding, documented pattern of accusing journalists of being terrorists without providing any credible proof.
“Israel is murdering the messengers,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Israel wiped out an entire news crew. It has made no claims that any of the other journalists were terrorists. That’s murder. Plain and simple.”
“It is no coincidence that the smears against al-Sharif — who has reported night and day for Al Jazeera since the start of the war — surfaced every time he reported on a major development in the war, most recently the starvation brought about by Israel’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into the territory,” Qudah said, adding that the famine has been independently corroborated by aid workers and medics, despite Israel’s refusal to let foreign reporters into Gaza.
Al-Sharif had been one of Al Jazeera’s best-known reporters in Gaza since October 2023, and one of several journalists whom Israel had previously alleged were members of Hamas, without providing evidence.
In a July 24 video, Avichay Adraee, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, accused al-Sharif of having been a member of Hamas’s military wing, Al-Qassam, since 2013 and working during the war “for the most criminal and offensive channel.”
Israel’s deadliest attack
6 journalists were murdered in Israel’s August 10, 2025, strike on Gaza City, making it the deadliest single attack in the Israel-Gaza war.
5 journalists and media workers were murdered on December 26, 2024, by Israel’s strike on a news van – the second deadliest single attack.
These deadliest single attacks have all been murders, which CPJ defines as deliberate killings of journalists for their work.
13 journalists have been murdered by Israel so far in 2025, up from 10 murdered in all of 2024, and one in 2023.
2 days in the war had the highest number of press members killed – the August 10 strike and various attacks on November 18, 2023, which killed 8 journalists and media workers.
More than 190 journalists and media workers have been killed in the Israel-Gaza war from 2023-25, more press members than were killed worldwide in the prior three years – 2020-22 (165).
CPJ called for al-Sharif’s protection in a July statement, in which he told CPJ that “Adraee’s campaign is not only a media threat or an image destruction; it is a real-life threat.”
He said, “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.”
Mohammed Qita, a freelance reporter and camera operator who contributes to Qatari-based Al Jazeera Mubasher, told CPJ that he was outside a neighboring tent when the explosion occurred and burned his hand while trying to extinguish the flames on al-Khalid’s body, as well as being struck by shrapnel. Mohamad Subuh, a correspondent for the pro-Fatah broadcaster Al-Kofiya TV, told CPJ that he was injured by shrapnel while inside a nearby tent.
With Sunday’s killing of six journalists, 192 journalists have been killed since the start of the Israeli-Gaza war on October 7, 2023. At least 184 of those journalists were Palestinians killed by Israel.
The August 10 attack raises the number of Al Jazeera staff journalists killed by Israel in Gaza during the war to 10, in addition to nine journalists who freelanced with the media organization, according to CPJ data.
“If Israel can kill the most prominent Gazan journalist, then it can kill anyone. The world needs to see these deadly attacks on journalists inside Gaza, as well as its censorship of journalists in Israel and the West Bank, for what they are: a deliberate and systematic attempt to cover up Israel’s actions,” said Qudah. “Israel has killed more journalists in the 22 months since the start of the war than were killed worldwide in the preceding three years. Deliberately targeting journalists is a war crime under international law. This massacre must end.”
CPJ emailed the IDF’s North America Media Desk to request comment on the killings and additional detail on the terrorism allegations but did not immediately receive any response.
Editor’s note: This text was updated on August 11, 2025, to add details and corrected to reflect that 8 press members were killed on November 18, 2023, and 165 press members were killed from 2020-2022. On August 13, the text was updated to add details and reflect that Aliwa was an Al Jazeera freelancer.
