Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham has alleged that Israel’s military intelligence created a special unit to help justify attacks in Gaza, including the killing of journalists.
“After October 7, a team called the ‘Legitimization Cell’ was established in AMAN,” Abraham said in a post on X.
“Intelligence personnel searched for information to provide ‘legitimisation’ for the army’s actions in Gaza, failed Hamas launches, use of human shields, exploitation of the civilian population.
Press freedom group PEN America said the killing of the five journalists in Gaza “raises grave concerns” and “could amount to a war crime”.
“This attack not only wiped out an entire team of journalists – at a time when there are fewer and fewer voices able to report from Gaza – but also took six more Palestinian lives in an onslaught that has already claimed thousands of lives,” said Liesl Gerntholtz, managing director of its PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center.
Mustafa Barghouti is the Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative.
He says the lack of international action and consequences has enabled Israel to continue its campaign in Gaza, including its targeting of Palestinian journalists and civilians.
8:24 PM · Aug 10, 2025
An outpouring of grief and condemnation has followed the Israeli assassination of five Al Jazeera staff in Gaza, including prominent correspondent Anas al-Sharif.
The drone attack late on Sunday hit a tent for journalists positioned outside the main gate of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, killing seven people. Among the dead were Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Noufal.
A sixth journalist, Mohammad al-Khaldi, a local freelance reporter, was also reported killed in the air attack. Reporters Without Borders said three more journalists were wounded in the same strike.
Just hours earlier, al-Sharif, 28, had posted on X about Israel’s “intense, concentrated bombardment” on eastern and southern Gaza City. Known for his fearless reporting from northern Gaza, he had become one of the most recognisable voices documenting the ongoing Israeli genocide in the enclave.
Al Jazeera Media Network condemns in the strongest terms the targeted assassination of its correspondents Anas Al Sharif and Mohammed Qraiqea, along with photographers Ibrahim Al Thaher, and Mohamed Nofal, by the Israeli occupation forces in yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom.
In a statement by the Israeli occupation force, admitting to their crimes, the journalists were targeted by a directed assault towards the tent where they were stationed opposite Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza. In which they were martyred. This attack comes amid the catastrophic consequences of the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza, which has seen the relentless slaughter of civilians, forced starvation, and the obliteration of entire communities. The order to assassinate Anas Al Sharif, one of Gaza’s bravest journalists, and his colleagues, is a desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza.
Last month the CPJ said it was gravely concerned for the safety of al-Sharif as he was being “targeted by an Israeli military smear campaign”.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says it is “appalled” by Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalists.
“Israel’s pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” said the CPJ’s regional director, Sara Qudah.
“Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable,” Qudah added.
According to al-Sharif’s distressing footage, Israeli forces deliberately targeted the hospital’s courtyard, which was housing numerous tents set up by displaced people. These individuals, seeking a haven in the hospital grounds, were reportedly caught in the bulldozing operation before they could flee to safety.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has called for an international investigation into the reports.
(December 16, 2023)
(December 16, 2023)
“We cannot describe the situation … tens of bodies run over by Israeli bulldozers,” al-Sharif says as he pans around the yard, showing more crushed heaps of rubble and body parts.
„Dozens of displaced, sick, and wounded people were buried alive. The occupation [Israeli] bulldozers trampled the tents of the displaced people in the hospital yard and brutally crushed them,” he adds.