Anas al-Sharif: The Voice of Gaza Silenced
August 12, 2025
Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif was more than a journalist — he was a lifeline between Gaza and the outside world. For nearly two years, he risked everything to document Israel’s genocide in Gaza, bringing truth to an audience that the Israeli government desperately wanted kept in the dark.
Now, Israel has murdered him. Two children are without their father. Gaza has lost one of its strongest voices.
A Targeted Killing
On Sunday morning, the 28-year-old reporter stood outside Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, wearing his press vest, filming the bombardments around him. By that afternoon, he was gone — killed alongside five colleagues when an Israeli airstrike struck their journalists’ tent. His nephew was reportedly among the dead.
This was no accident. Israel immediately launched a propaganda blitz to smear Anas as “the head of a Hamas terrorist cell” in an attempt to justify his murder. These false claims were quickly rejected by media freedom groups, UN experts, and colleagues who knew his work and his character.
Anas had been marked for death for months. In October 2024, Israel publicly named him as one of six journalists they claimed were “Hamas operatives.” In December 2023, Israeli forces bombed his family home, killing his father. He and his family endured repeated threats. Because when you kill the journalist, you kill the witnesses.
His Words Live On
Anas left behind a will, which was posted shortly after his death:
“If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice… I entrust you with Palestine… I entrust you with its people, with its wronged and innocent children who never had the time to dream or live in safety and peace... Be bridges toward the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland.”
These are not the words of a “terrorist.” They are the words of a father, a reporter, and a man committed to truth and justice.
Erasing the Truth Before the Invasion
His killing came just days before Israel’s planned invasion of Gaza City — an operation aimed at fully occupying the territory and pushing Palestinians into concentration camps. Silencing Anas was part of that plan. His reporting threatened to expose the reality of Israel’s crimes at a moment when they wanted the world distracted or misled.
Yet much of the Western media has failed to meet this moment. Instead of defending one of their own, major outlets like The New York Times repeated Israeli talking points, providing cover for war crimes and undermining press freedom.
The Responsibility Now Falls on Us
Anas al-Sharif was not a terrorist. He was a journalist. He was a witness. He was the voice of Gaza. Israel silenced that voice because he refused to stop telling the truth.
Every politician who stays silent, every newsroom that repeats Israeli propaganda, and every lawmaker who cashes AIPAC checks while voting to fund Israel’s war machine has blood on their hands.
Anas entrusted us with Palestine. The least we can do is make sure his voice echoes until justice is done — by protecting the journalists still risking their lives, holding genocide-enabling politicians accountable, and refusing to let the truth be buried under propaganda.
In honor of Anas’ legacy, we are asking you to join us today in making a contribution to the Committee to Protect Journalists (https://cpj.org/), which is defending press freedom and demanding justice for Anas and the hundreds of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza.
