AL JAZEERA CLARIFIES FOUR STAFF, TWO FREELANCERS KILLED IN ISRAELI STRIKE
Read Time:1 Minute, 29 Second
By: Sefiu Ajape
A recent Israeli airstrike resulted in the deaths of four Al Jazeera journalists and two freelancers, the network confirmed on Tuesday, correcting its earlier report that five of the six casualties were staff members.
Initially, the Qatar-based news outlet reported that its correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, had been killed in Sunday’s strike.
However, in an updated version published on its English-language website, Al Jazeera clarified that Moamen Aliwa was a freelance cameraman, not a staff member. It also identified the sixth journalist killed in the attack, Mohammed al-Khalidi, as a freelancer.
“An earlier version of this story referred to Israel killing five Al Jazeera staff. The number of Al Jazeera journalists Israel killed was four,” the outlet stated.
The strike targeted a tent sheltering journalists in Gaza City, located in the northern part of the Palestinian territory, and has sparked widespread international condemnation, including from press freedom organizations.
The Israeli military acknowledged responsibility for the attack, specifically naming Sharif—one of Al Jazeera’s most prominent reporters—as the target. It claimed he was a “terrorist” who “posed as a journalist.”
Al Jazeera firmly rejected those allegations and denounced the attack, asserting that the strike came after “repeated incitement and calls by multiple Israeli officials and spokespersons to target the fearless journalist Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues.”
With Gaza under a blockade, global media organizations—such as AFP—have relied heavily on Palestinian journalists for photo, video, and written coverage of the ongoing conflict.
Reporters Without Borders, a press freedom watchdog, reported in early July that over 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began, among them several working for Al Jazeera.
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