Since Israel launched an attack on Gaza in 2022, 273 journalists and media workers have been killed, making an average of about 12 journalists monthly.
A monitoring group, Shireen.ps, named after Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was fatally shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in 2022, tracks all victims of the conflicts, including media workers, hundreds of whom have been killed, wounded, imprisoned or displaced.
Veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by an Israeli bullet while covering a raid in the Jenin refugee camp on May 11, 2022, despite putting on vest that marked her as journalist.
Multiple investigations confirmed she was deliberately targeted by an Israeli soldier using a US-made weapon.
Her death sparked massive outrage and mourning, culminating in one of the largest Palestinian funerals in modern history.
Thousands of mourners protested her death across several cities, and her funeral in Jerusalem was marred by Israeli police attacking mourners. Abu Akleh, known as the “Voice of Palestine,” was honored as a national symbol.
Since Abu Akleh’s killing, about 270 other journalists and media workers have died in the conflict.
The ICIR reports that 28-year-old Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, and four of his colleagues were killed in what was described as a deliberate Israeli strike on a media tent where journalists had taken shelter outside the main gate of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital.
Al Jazeera reporter Hani al-Shaer said an Israeli drone struck the tent at about 11:35 pm (20:35 GMT) on Sunday, killing seven people, including Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa.
Al Jazeera condemned the killings in a statement describing it as “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom,” stressing that al-Sharif and his colleagues were among the few remaining voices reporting from inside Gaza, with international media still barred by Israel.
According to the media organisation, Sunday night’s strike was not the first time Israel has targeted Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza; at least five had been killed in previous attacks.
A report by Brown University’s Costs of War project shows that more journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began, than those killed during the United States Civil War, the two World Wars, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) revealed that 2024 was the deadliest year for journalists, with over 120 killed. More than 50 journalists and media workers were killed in Gaza that year.
In response to Sunday’s attack, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an investigation and emphasised that journalists must be able to work anywhere without fear of being targeted.
Similarly, Amnesty International described the killings as a war crime and honoured al-Sharif as a “brave and extraordinary” reporter, noting he received the Human Rights Defender Award in 2024 for his commitment to press freedom.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.