Mourners march with the bodies of the Al Jazeera journalists who were killed in an overnight Israeli strike on their tent in Gaza City, from Al-Shifa hospital to their burial at the Sheikh Radwan cemetery in Gaza City. AFP
The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, and the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, on Monday denounced the strike, warning it marked a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
Sunday’s strike targeted the journalists' tent near the Gaza City Hospital complex, killing Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohamed Qureiqa and its photojournalists Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, along with freelance reporter Mohamed Khalidi, and al-Sharif’s 19-year-old nephew, Mosaab al-Sharif.
“This is a grave breach of international humanitarian law,” Türk said on X, formerly Twitter. “Israel must respect and protect all civilians, including journalists. At least 242 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023.” He urged “immediate, safe and unhindered access to Gaza for all journalists.”
In tandem, Lazzarini accused the Israeli army of seeking to “silence voices reporting atrocities from Gaza” and condemned the “total impunity” surrounding the killings. “I am horrified by the killing of another 5 journalists in Gaza City,” he posted.
Lazzarini argued that since the start of the war Israel has been killing journalists “with total impunity.”
He added: "Israel is also blocking access of international journalists to report independently… This is the only way to counter disinformation and prevent doubts about the scale of atrocities committed in Gaza.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was “appalled” by the killings. “Israel’s pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa program director Sara Qudah.
Gaza has been sealed off to international reporters, forcing global outlets to rely on Palestinian journalists, who media watchdogs say have faced the deadliest conditions in the profession’s history.
The 22-month Israeli genocide has killed 61,499 Palestinians and wounded more than 153,000, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Al Jazeera called the strike a “targeted assassination” and “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom.”
The Israeli army later confirmed it had targeted al-Sharif, claiming he was “the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas organization” — an allegation media rights groups say reflects a broader Israeli pattern of branding journalists as militants without evidence.
Al-Sharif had become one of the most prominent reporters covering the Israeli war on Gaza since its outset in October 2023, refusing to evacuate the north despite repeated Israeli threats.
He continued reporting through airstrikes, mass displacement, and severe shortages of food, water, and fuel, providing rare testimony from one of the world’s most inaccessible war zones.
In December 2023, he briefly halted his coverage to bury his father, killed in an Israeli strike on the family’s Jabalia home.
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