One year on: Remembering Gaza journalist Anas Al-Sharif

One year after the deaths of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif and five other reporters in the Gaza Strip, colleagues and activists have shared tributes, reports, and testimonies to highlight their role in documenting the war and the suffering of Palestinian civilians. Al-Sharif was killed on 10 August 2025 in an Israeli airstrike on a tent used by journalists near the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City. Fellow Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Qariqa, cameramen Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Nofal, as well as Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Al-Khalidi, also died in the same attack. On social media, journalists and activists stated that the six men "carried no weapons, only the truth." Palestinian activist Aboud Battah wrote, "A year has passed, Anas and Mohammed; a year has passed, voices of Gaza." Reporter Osama Abu Rabie said Gaza lost six voices that day—voices that used cameras and words to convey the reality on the ground to the world. Referring to Al-Sharif’s final wishes, Abu Rabie noted that his legacy continues in every journalist who stands before a camera and every person who persists in documenting events despite the fear. Colleagues also spoke of Al-Sharif’s personal life and his longing for his children, who were separated from him due to the war. A cameraman who worked with him said Al-Sharif loved his children deeply, and they were strongly attached to him despite growing up apart from their father during the conflict. Reporter Ahmed Hamdan recalled that Al-Sharif chose to remain in northern Gaza, an area many residents were forced to flee. Despite threats and offers to leave, he continued reporting on hunger, displacement, and bombardment. Hamdan remembered his final conversation with Al-Sharif, when he urged him to rest, to which Al-Sharif replied, "I am tired, Ahmed… I want to rest." From the early days of the war, Al-Sharif focused his work on documenting events in northern Gaza. Reporter Mohammed Haniyeh noted that Al-Sharif began his coverage in a neighbourhood that had been burned to ash, performing what Haniyeh described as "the most dangerous news coverage a journalist in the world could experience." Activists also reshared Al-Sharif’s previous testimonies regarding the pressure and campaigns directed against him. Al-Sharif had stated that his footage of what he termed "occupation crimes" in northern Gaza was met with smear campaigns and accounts promoting the Israeli military's narrative. Palestinian activist Haneen Rayan said he continued his work until the end, despite threats against himself and his family. According to figures cited in this report, more than 250 journalists have been killed in Gaza by Israeli fire and airstrikes since the war began on 7 October 2023, an unprecedented figure in the history of modern journalism. Remaining journalists in Gaza continue to document events on the ground despite displacement, hunger, and constant threats.