Israel’s military struck an area outside Gaza City’s hospital complex Sunday, killing Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, fellow journalist Mohamed Qureiqa and at least six others who had been seeking shelter there.

Shifa Hospital officials confirmed the deaths, including four additional journalists and two civilians and said the airstrike also damaged the emergency building’s entrance, hospital director Rami Mohanna told The Associated Press (AP).

The strike drew sharp condemnation from press freedom advocates, who called it a retaliatory attack targeting those documenting the conflict in Gaza.

Later Sunday, Israel’s military accused al-Sharif of leading a Hamas cell – a claim both Al Jazeera and al-Sharif consistently rejected as unfounded.

The incident marked the first time during the war that Israel’s military has swiftly claimed responsibility after a journalist was killed in a strike.

Palestinian children and a journalist check the destroyed Al Jazeera tent at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza City, Palestine, Aug. 11, 2025. (AFP Photo)

It came less than a year after Israeli army officials first accused al-Sharif and other Al Jazeera journalists of being members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

In a July 24 video, Israel’s army spokesperson Avichay Adraee criticized Al Jazeera and accused al-Sharif of being part of Hamas’ military wing.

Al Jazeera called the strike a “targeted assassination” and accused Israeli officials of incitement, linking al-Sharif’s death to allegations the network and correspondent denied.

“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 Qatari network said in a statement.

Al-Sharif reported a nearby bombardment minutes before his death.

In a social media post that Al Jazeera said was written to be posted in case of his death, he lamented the devastation wrought by the war and bid farewell to his wife, son and daughter.

“I never hesitated for a single day to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification,” the 28-year-old wrote.

The journalists are the latest to be killed in what observers have called the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern times.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said Sunday that at least 186 have been killed in Gaza.

Al-Sharif began reporting for Al Jazeera a few days after the war broke out. He was known for covering Israel’s bombardment in northern Gaza and later for reporting on the starvation gripping much of the territory’s population.

In a July broadcast, he cried on air as a woman behind him collapsed from hunger.

“I am talking about the slow death of those people,” he said at the time.

Al Jazeera is blocked in Israel, and soldiers raided its offices in the occupied West Bank last year, ordering them closed.

Al-Sharif’s death comes weeks after the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Israel had targeted him with a smear campaign.

“Israel’s pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” Sara Qudah, the group’s regional director, said in a statement.

Strong disapproval poured in from across the world after six journalists were killed in an Israeli strike on their tent in Gaza City on Sunday. Anas al-Sharif, an Al Jazeera reporter who had been extensively covering the war in Gaza, was also among those killed in the strike. Palestinians took to the streets to protest against the killing of journalists in Gaza.(Reuters)

From the United Nations to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, global leaders and organisations have condemned Israel’s strike on journalists in Gaza.

Later, the Israeli military admitted to targeting al-Sharif, whom it had labelled as Hamas-affiliated “terrorist”.

“A short while ago, in Gaza City, the IDF struck the terrorist Anas Al-Sharif, who posed as a journalist for the Al Jazeera network. Anas Al-Sharif served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organisation and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops,” the Israel defense forces said on Telegram.

ALSO READ | Who were the journalists killed in Gaza

Al Jazeera said that other members killed in the strike on the tent outside the main gate of the al-Shifa hospital were Mohammed Qreiqeh, and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. The sixth person who died in the attack was Mohammed Al-Khaldi, a Palestinian freelance journalist.

Israel and Al Jazeera have had a conflicted relationship for several years, with Jerusalem banning the channel in the country and raiding its offices against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.

Qatar, which partly funds Al Jazeera, also hosts an office for the Hamas political leadership, and has been a frequent venue for indirect talks between the militant group and Israel.

Earlier in July, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that over 200 journalists had been killed in Gaza since the war began, including many of Al Jazeera’s.

The Hamas-run media office in Gaza said that 238 journalists have been killed since the war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023.

As per the Committee to Protect Journalists, with Sunday’s killing,at least 192 journalists have been killed since the start of the Israeli-Gaza war in October 2023. Of this, 184 journalists were Palestinians killed by Israel.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his plan to take over Gaza and target the remaining Hamas strongholds, saying that it was “the best way to end the war”. He said that the new operation would be implemented on a “fairly short timetable”.

World reacts to journalists’ killing

Reporters Without Borders condemned the “acknowledged murder by the Israeli army”. The press freedom campaign group told news agency AFP that it “strongly and angrily condemns the acknowledged murder by the Israeli army” of Anas al-Sharif and other journalists after Israel labelled him a “terrorist” affiliated with Hamas and called on the global community to intervene.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani also lambasted Israel for killing the Al Jazeera journalists, saying that the deaths are “crimes beyond imagination”. In a post on X, he wrote, “The deliberate targeting of journalists by Israel in the Gaza Strip reveals how these crimes are beyond imagination… May God have mercy on journalists Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qraiqea, and their colleagues.”

ALSO READ | Who was Anas Al-Sharif? Al Jazeera journalist killed in Israeli strike moments after posting Gaza videos

The UN human rights agency also slammed Israel’s killing of six journalists in Gaza as a “grave breach of international humanitarian law”. In a post on X, the office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said, “Israel must respect and protect all civilians, including journalists.”

Turk’s office noted that at least 242 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since Hamas’ attacks on Israel triggered a war in the Middle East region on October 7, 2023.

“We call for immediate, safe and unhindered access to Gaza for all journalists,” it said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also expressed “grave concern’”over the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza, his spokesperson said on Monday.

Media advocacy group, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), also condemned the attack and said that journalists should never be targeted in war.

“Journalists are civilians. They must never be targeted in war. And to do so is a war crime,” Jodie Ginsberg, the chief executive of CPJ, told AFP.

CPJ had in July called for Anas al-Sharif’s protection after an Israeli military spokesperson claimed that he was a militant. The group accused Israel of a “pattern” of labelling journalists militants “without providing credible evidence”.

Londoners marched through the downtown core on Monday in protest of Israel’s escalating military offensive in Gaza, and the deaths of six Palestinian journalists from an Israeli airstrike over the weekend.

Demonstrators said they were also protesting Canada’s failure to help Palestinian refugees and fully condemn the Israeli government’s military actions, including its role in the worsening humanitarian crisis.

Among them was Nabil Sultan, who described the last year-and-a-half as being “the most traumatic period of my life,” with many family members being killed in Israeli military strikes.

“My first cousin’s entire family — her, her husband, her four children, and her father-in-law — were killed in their home,” he said.

“My family (is) currently in very difficult conditions. They’re in tents in Gaza City. They’re struggling to find water, and find bread and rice and just basic foods for survival.”

It’s Gaza City that the Israeli government says it intends to take control of, a plan that has received fierce criticism at home and abroad.

The foreign ministers of Canada, Austria, Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom said Saturday that the plan would worsen the humanitarian situation, endanger remaining Israeli hostages, and further the mass displacement of civilians.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the plan, saying Israel had “no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas,” and called reports about the dire conditions in Gaza a “global campaign of lies.”

Nabil Sultan described the last year-and-a-half as being “the most traumatic period of my life,” with many family members killed in Israeli military strikes. (Matthew Trevithick/CBC News)

Sultan, a nephrologist with London Health Sciences Centre, tried to visit Gaza in September and participate in a medical mission, but was denied entry by Israel while crossing from Jordan, he said.

“When I asked for the reason why I was denied entry, what I was told was that I had Palestinian origins,” he said. He added there is little medicine in Gaza, and few medical facilities still operating, and accused Israel of committing a genocide.

“It’s a complete sense of helplessness on my end, and a complete sense of disappointment in the Canadian government stance, that has not … clearly called for this genocide to end.”

Monday evening’s demonstration began outside London city hall and at one point stopped outside the London Public Library and CBC London’s offices.

The Canadian Palestinian Social Association (CPSA) said the protest was called on Monday after six Palestinian journalists, including four from Al Jazeera, were killed on Sunday in an Israeli strike on a tent near Al Shifa Hospital.

Israel’s military said it targeted and killed Anas al-Sharif, alleging he had headed a Hamas militant cell, citing intelligence documents.

CBC News has not seen the documents or otherwise verified the allegations, which Al Jazeera said were baseless, calling the strike a “targeted assassination.” Canada condemned the killings in a post on X.

Death of Al Jazeera journalists in Israeli airstrike widely condemned International condemnation followed a deadly Israeli airstrike in Gaza that killed six journalists including a prominent Al Jazeera reporter that Israel’s military claims was a Hamas operative.

There was no justification for the strike, said Londoner Mustafa Turk, who has several family members in Gaza.

Turk accused Israel of trying to silence Palestinian journalists. “They don’t want Western media to see the truth of what people are sharing from inside Gaza.”

International news organizations have been barred by Israel from covering the war inside Gaza, aside from rare guided tours.

Samah Al-Sabbagh, president of the Canadian Palestinian Social Association. (Matthew Trevithick/CBC News)

On Sunday, Netanyahu said he had directed Israel’s military to “bring in more foreign journalists.”

In a statement, CPSA accused the Canadian media of whitewashing a genocide, and called on Canadian MPs to demand an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, and press for an end to the aid blockade, and “the occupation of Palestinian lands.”

It also called on the government to suspend military trade and cooperation with Israel, following a recent CBC News report suggesting Canadian arms shipments are still flowing to Israel.

“There must be something that we can do. There is more for Canada to do than just to recognize Palestine as a state with conditions. Where’s the arms embargo?” said Samah Al-Sabbagh, CPSA’s president.

“That’s not what Canada stands for. We stand for freedom, we stand for rights, and we see justice, but we can’t call it out. Why? Why can’t we call out this genocide?”

Mustafa Turk outside of London city hall, where Londoners rallied on Monday to protest the deaths of six Palestinian journalists in Gaza from a targeted Israeli air strike. (Matthew Trevithick/CBC News)

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Canada intends to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly next month, so long as Hamas has no role in governance.

On Friday, he repeated Canada’s call for a ceasefire, and for the return of all Israeli hostages.

Al-Sabbagh says she has several family members who have left Gaza but who are stuck in Egypt waiting to come to Canada.

“Canada has not yet brought them over. Their application is there, we keep sending the government, but nothing is being gone. What do we do?”

The federal government says more than 1,750 people who exited Gaza had passed security screenings and had been approved to come to Canada as of July 8. More than 860 have arrived in Canada.

An award-winning Palestinian journalist working for Al Jazeera was targeted and killed along with several colleagues in an Israeli strike in Gaza. Israel has defended the strike by accusing the reporter of terrorism, a charge that he denied while he was alive. Many are condemning the killing as part of a larger Israeli campaign against the media.

Palestinian journalist and colleagues killed in Gaza strike on journalists’ tent

Al Jazeera reported that one of its journalists, Anas al-Sharif, was killed in a targeted strike by the Israeli Defense Force in Gaza City on Sunday. Another Al Jazeera journalist, Mohammed Qreiqeh, was also killed in the strike, alongside cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Moamen Aliwa, and two other individuals. The strike targeted al-Sharif while he was inside a journalists’ tent outside the entrance of al-Shifa hospital. The strike was carried out via an Israeli drone on Sunday evening. Just before the strike, Al-Sharif tweeted that the area was being subjected to heavy bombing by Israeli forces.

Al-Sharif left a pre-written message in the event of his death, which was shared by his colleagues on the social media platform X. In the message, the married father of two asks that his son and daughter be cared for after his death. His message also states, “I urge you not to be silenced by chains, nor to be hindered by borders, and to be bridges towards the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom shines upon our occupied homeland.” Al-Sharif was one of the more well-known Palestinian journalists covering the war from inside Gaza. He was a member of a Reuters news team that won a Pulitzer Prize in photography in 2024 for its coverage of the war in Gaza.

Al Sharif was previously part of a Reuters team which in 2024 won a Pulitzer Prize in the category of Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Israel-Hamas war https://t.co/zNtf1jnOXe 6/6 — Reuters (@Reuters) August 11, 2025

Journalists reject Israel’s terrorism claims, accuse it of targeting the press

Israel has acknowledged that it intentionally targeted Al-Sharif in the strike that killed him and his colleagues, justifying the attack by accusing the reporter of being a Hamas terrorist. An Israeli statement said Al-Sharif “was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF (Israeli) troops.” This accusation follows a similar one made in October, in which Israel accused Al-Sharif and other journalists in Gaza of being members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, claiming that documents and other evidence backed these claims. Al-Sharif and Al Jazeera denied that the reporter was part of any terrorist organization or activities.

Others, such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, have said Israel has failed to provide evidence to back up its accusations. Sara Qudah, CPJ director for the Middle East and North Africa, said, “Israel’s pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom.” Israel has mostly restricted outside journalists from operating within Gaza during the war, leaving mostly local journalists to cover the conflict. Even with these restrictions keeping most journalists out of Gaza, at least 192 reporters have been killed within the territory during the current conflict, according to CPJ statistics; the Hamas-run government of Gaza puts the number of reporters killed at 238, per Reuters.

With the war continuing and reporters heavily restricted from entering Gaza, Palestinian journalists like Al-Sharif have largely been the main source for information coming out of the territory during the conflict. With the Israeli military seemingly targeting reporters as part of its anti-Hamas campaign, reporting from Gaza remains an immensely dangerous endeavor.

Madonna attends the 2025 Met Gala on May 05, in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images/File

Madonna has urged Pope Leo to visit Gaza in a humanitarian mission to help starving Palestinian children, saying “there is no more time.”

The American superstar, who was raised a Roman Catholic, pleaded with the new pontiff to visit the enclave in an Instagram post Monday.

“Most Holy Father. Please go to Gaza and bring your light to the children before it’s too late. As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering. The children of the world belong to everyone. You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry.” Madonna

Madonna said she was calling on Leo to visit Gaza because “politics cannot affect change,” but “consciousness can.”

In the post, published on her son Rocco’s birthday, Madonna said the best gift she could give to him is “to ask everyone to do what they can to help save the innocent children caught in the crossfire in Gaza.”

Since his papacy began in May, the pope has been robust in his criticisms of Israel’s war in Gaza, consistently voicing his concern for Palestinian civilians facing Israeli bombardment.

CNN has reached out to the Vatican for comment.

Whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would grant the pope entry to the enclave is not certain.

Madonna’s comments come as a growing number of artists, including Massive Attack, Brian Eno and most recently U2, have highlighted the humanitarian situation in Gaza.