Gaza has become one of the most dangerous places in the world to work as a journalist, with media workers facing constant risk from airstrikes, artillery fire, and collapsing infrastructure. On 10 August 2025, tragedy struck again when Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Anas al-Sharif, aged 28, was killed in an Israeli airstrike outside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. He was in a designated media tent, alongside colleagues covering the humanitarian crisis, when the strike hit. Four other journalists — Mohammed Qreiqeh (33), Ibrahim Zaher (25), Moamen Aliwa (23), and Mohammed Noufal (29) — also lost their lives in the same attack.
The strike drew swift condemnation from Al Jazeera, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who alleged that it represented a deliberate targeting of members of the press. They argue that the attack is part of a broader and deeply concerning pattern. Since the Israel–Hamas war reignited in October 2023, more than 180 Palestinian journalists have been killed — most while clearly marked as press or working in known media facilities.
This was not an isolated incident. In May 2025, independent journalist Yahya Sobeih was killed in an Israeli airstrike in western Gaza City, raising the total number of journalist deaths in the war to over 214. In April 2025, renowned photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, celebrated for capturing intimate portraits of civilian life amid devastation and whose work had been showcased at Cannes, was killed alongside ten members of her family. The same year, Al Jazeera Mubasher reporter Hossam Shabat died in another airstrike that media watchdogs said appeared targeted.
The deaths in Gaza are part of a longer history of journalist fatalities in the Israel–Palestine conflict. Notable earlier cases include the killing of veteran correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022 during an Israeli military raid in Jenin, and the shooting of Palestinian cameraman Yasser Murtaja during Gaza border protests in 2018 — both wearing press vests.
Human rights advocates stress that the killings of journalists are not just attacks on individuals but an assault on the principle of bearing witness.With the war continuing and Gaza’s media infrastructure collapsing, press freedom groups say the question is no longer whether journalists are at risk — but whether journalism in Gaza can survive at all.
WhiteHorseDaily will continue to monitor developments in Gaza, providing verified updates as new information emerges
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