Gaza. Israel’s military said it targeted and killed Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif in an airstrike late Sunday in Gaza, a strike that also claimed the lives of other journalists, amid what press freedom advocates describe as the deadliest conflict for reporters in modern times.

Both Israeli officials and hospital authorities in Gaza City confirmed the deaths of al-Sharif and his colleagues. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and other watchdog groups condemned the strike as retaliation against journalists documenting the war. Israel alleged al-Sharif was leading a Hamas cell, a charge both Al Jazeera and the journalist had previously rejected as baseless.

It was the first time in the 22-month war that the Israeli military swiftly acknowledged killing a journalist.

Hospital officials at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital said those killed while sheltering outside the hospital included fellow Al Jazeera correspondent Mohamed Qreiqeh, four other journalists, and two additional people. The blast damaged the entrance to the hospital’s emergency building, said Rami Mohanna, the hospital’s administrative director.

The strike comes less than a year after Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee accused al-Sharif and other Al Jazeera journalists of belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, repeating the allegations in a July 24 video.

Al Jazeera Calls Strike an ‘Assassination’
The Qatari network denounced the incident as a “targeted assassination,” linking it to what it called incitement by Israeli officials.

“Anas and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices from within Gaza, providing the world with unfiltered, on-the-ground coverage of the devastating realities endured by its people,” the network said in a statement.

Foreign journalists have been barred from entering Gaza for the duration of the war, except for rare, controlled visits with the Israeli military. Al Jazeera is among the few outlets still maintaining a large reporting presence inside the strip. The network has lost multiple staff members in the conflict, including correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi last summer and freelancer Hossam Shabat in March. Like al-Sharif, Shabat had been accused by Israel of being a militant.

A recent report by CPJ said 186 journalists have been killed in Gaza, while Brown University’s Watson Institute in April described the conflict as “the worst ever” for reporters.

Funeral and Final Words
Al-Sharif had reported on nearby bombardments minutes before his death. In a message Al Jazeera said he had prepared for posthumous release, the 28-year-old bid farewell to his wife, son, and daughter, writing:
“I never hesitated for a single day to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification.”

Hundreds of mourners, including many journalists, gathered Monday at Shifa Hospital to pay respects to al-Sharif, Qreiqeh, and their colleagues. Ahed Ferwana of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate accused Israel of deliberately targeting reporters and urged international action.

Al-Sharif began reporting for Al Jazeera shortly after the war erupted, initially covering Israel’s bombardment in northern Gaza and later the deepening hunger crisis. In a July broadcast, he broke down in tears as a woman collapsed from starvation behind him.

Qreiqeh, 33, a native of Gaza City, is survived by two children. Both he and al-Sharif were separated from their families for months earlier in the war and reunited only during a ceasefire, moments captured in widely shared footage showing their children barely recognizing them.

The United Nations human rights office on Monday condemned the strike as “a grave breach of international humanitarian law.” U.N. Special Rapporteur Irene Khan said in July the killings were part of “a deliberate strategy of Israel to suppress the truth, obstruct the documentation of international crimes, and bury any possibility of future accountability.”

CPJ’s regional director Sara Qudah said the incident fits a troubling pattern. “Israel’s labeling of journalists as militants without credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” she said.