Palestine Letter: ‘Without us, everyone would die in silence’
Palestinians mourn over the body of Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who was killed alongside other journalists in an overnight Israeli strike on their tent in Gaza City, 11 August 2025
Tareq S. Hajjaj writes in Mondoweiss on 13 August 2025:
Lately, I have written almost all of my stories with tears in my eyes. When a journalist writes a story about a person they have never met, there is a certain level of detachment. It’s completely different when were write stories about our friends and colleagues.
In the wake of the assassination of Anas Al-Sharif, Muhammad Qreiqa, and four other journalists in Gaza on August 10, every colleague of mine in Gaza now considers themselves as “martyrs on a waiting list.” They’re just waiting for their time to come. I am about to talk to one of them in a minute. I am left wondering whether I might find them on the news later.
Israel is no longer hiding the fact that it’s killing journalists. It openly boasts about it by claiming that they are tied to Hamas or other armed groups — all 238 journalists who have been killed over the course of this genocide.
Anas al-Sharif with his children
By now, Israel has made this into a routine. It starts by inciting against them in the media, as an army of Hasbarists, trolls, and bots generate content about the next journalist on the hit list, creating a narrative about how they are fighters “disguised as journalists.” They start to manufacture the consent for their slaughter. In the case of Anas, the incitement and fabrications started months before his death.
The same accusations were pointed at my dear colleague Hassan Eslayeh, who Israel tried to kill twice and succeeded the second time. He was killed in an airstrike while receiving treatment at Nasser Hospital’s burn unit for wounds sustained during the first assassination attempt.
Of course, the justifications the army provides — they were secret militants — are improbable fabrications that fall apart from even cursory scrutiny. Because these journalists are the only people bearing witness to this genocide, they are Israel’s main target in the information war. The world now knows Israel as it never did, and this is only due to the courage of Gaza’s journalists. That is why Israel called them several times with threats to stop their coverage before ultimately putting them on their public hit lists.
See also in Mondoweiss: Israel assassinates ‘voice of Gaza,’ Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif
and in Middle East Eye: Anas al-Sharif was murdered for being Gaza’s voice
and in Al Jazeera: Protests, vigils held worldwide over Israel’s killing of Gaza journalists
and in Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor: Killing of five journalists in Gaza, a horrific crime to obscure truth and pave way for major massacre