Anas Al-Sharif: The symbol of the Gaza war was killed by Israel

Anas Al-Sharif: The symbol of the Gaza war was killed by Israel

After a ceasefire was announced in the Gaza Strip in January, Anas Al-Sharif took off his protective gear one by one during a live television broadcast as cheering crowds cheered him on. Many hoped that day would mark the end of the suffering of 2 million Palestinians in the enclave.

Anas Al-Sharif and his legacy

Killed almost seven months later Israel the Al Jazeera journalist and four of his colleagues in an attack in Gaza City. Al-Sharif, one of the best-known Palestinian journalists in Gaza and one of dozens killed by Israel over the course of the war, sparked international outrage and calls for accountability with his death.

A rise to fame

At 28, Al-Sharif became the voice of Gaza history for millions of people while Israel blocked international media access to the territory. Hardly known before the war, he quickly became a well-known figure in the Arab world through his daily reporting on the conflict and its humanitarian consequences.

Reporting from Gaza

His reports provided powerful insights into pivotal moments in the conflict, including brief ceasefires, the release of Israeli hostages, and frightening stories of hunger that shocked the world. Al Jazeera had hired Al-Sharif in December 2023 after his social media videos about Israeli attacks in his hometown of Jabalya went viral. He was initially reluctant to appear on television, but his colleagues convinced him to present his reports in person, which he described as "indescribable."

Personal tragedies and challenges

“I had never appeared on a local channel and certainly not on an international one,” he told media outlet Sotour in February. “The person who was the happiest was my late father.” His father was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Jabalya shortly after Al-Sharif's first appearances on Al Jazeera. As a father of two children, Al-Sharif appeared on the channel almost daily.

"We (journalists) slept in hospitals, on streets, in vehicles, in ambulances, in shelters and with displaced people. I slept in 30 to 40 different places," he said.

The tragic end

After Al-Sharif removed his protective gear on live television in January, people in the crowd lifted him up to celebrate. “I take off the helmet that tired me and this armor that became an extension of my body,” he said on Al Jazeera, honoring his killed and injured colleagues.

Al-Sharif's reporting also caught the eye of the Israeli army, which reportedly asked him to stop working for Al Jazeera. "In the end, (the Israeli army) sent me voice messages on my WhatsApp number... An intelligence officer told me... 'You have minutes to leave where you are, go south and stop reporting for Al Jazeera'... I was reporting live from a hospital," he said.

International reactions

Al-Sharif's killing sparked international condemnation from human rights organizations and officials. The Commission to Protect Journalists expressed horror and stressed that Israel has a "long-standing, documented pattern of accusing journalists of being terrorists without credible evidence." Since the start of the war, 192 journalists have been killed, including 184 Palestinians, by Israeli attacks, according to CPJ.

Just hours before the attack that killed Al-Sharif and his colleagues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that foreign journalists would now only be allowed to travel to Gaza with permission from the Israeli military and accompanied by soldiers.

A lasting legacy

Al-Sharif was buried in Gaza on Monday, and his funeral drew a large number of Palestinian mourners. Anticipating his own death, Al-Sharif had written a will, which his colleagues published after his death. “I have experienced pain in all its facets, tasted suffering and loss many times, but I have never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification... When I die, I die steadfast in my principles,” he wrote. “Don’t forget Gaza… and don’t forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.”