I am devastated and heartbroken.
Today, I mourn and grieve the loss of my dear friend and brother, Anas Al-Sharif; a beloved son, father, and one of 187 journalists who paid the ultimate price with their lives in Israel’s genocide.
Since we connected, we would speak on WhatsApp and exchange messages on Instagram. He would laugh at my broken Arabic and my attempt to string sentences together. Every morning, I would search for his updates, clinging to hope as I waited for proof of life.
But this morning, I received silence.
At 7AM, I awoke to the news I never wanted to see. My friend, the hero of our people, had been killed in a targeted strike with five Al-Jazeera journalists near al-Shifa Hospital. They were some of the last remaining journalists in Gaza, and Israel had finally killed them.
Anas was 28 years old, married with a young son, Saleh, and daughter, Sham. His life had barely begun, yet for 22 months he stood fearless and unwavering in his duty to his people.
Palestinian resilience
I first connected with Anas in 2024 when we honoured the courageous and brave journalists through Amnesty International Australia’s first Human Rights Defender Awards. The Awards recognised those who had courageously risked their lives to uphold the integrity of journalism and protect the freedom of independent information, and the extraordinary courage and determination of journalists committed to documenting the realities in Gaza.
When we first connected, I immediately felt a bond. I told him he was shining a light for the world to witness what is happening to our people, and that his name was known across the globe. He was thankful and grateful, as always, but I don’t think he ever fully understood the impact he had. Since then, he had become like a brother to me, as I constantly worried about his safety and wellbeing.
Amidst a genocide, he managed to record an acceptance speech, dedicating the award to every Palestinian journalist covering the genocide in Gaza and crimes of the Israeli occupation. He spoke of the souls of his colleagues, martyred while carrying out their work:
“Despite the challenges faced by journalists in Gaza, we continue and practice journalism with all professionalism. We have been directly targeted and directly threatened. However, we have not stopped because it has become a duty on the necks of us all. We, the Palestinian journalists in Gaza, must convey the suffering of our people. We must convey the crimes being committed against the people in the Gaza strip.”
The award announcement coincided with the anniversary of his father’s martyrdom, to whom he also dedicated the honour.
I cried watching his speech. His Palestinian pride and resilience shone through the screen.
On the night of the awards, he rang me just as the event began. He excitedly asked me to send photos and videos. Embarrassingly, my broken Arabic was failing me. It hadn’t previously dawned on me that there must be so few moments for him to celebrate. He wanted to be with us, so I sent him live updates. I made sure that he was on stage with us in spirit.
I last spoke to Anas two weeks ago via video call after an IDF spokesperson threatened him and falsely accused him of being a terrorist. We had just held the Voices for Gaza vigil, honouring the names of the 17,000 Palestinian children killed by Israel in front of Parliament in Canberra.
Despite the depravity of the genocide, the gravity of the threats and the brutality of Israel Forces, we laughed together. We found comfort in each other. The juxtaposition of me in the safety and comfort of my hotel room and he in the journalist tent outside the hospital could not have been greater. But what always struck me about Anas was not only his strength, but also his softness.
Smearing Palestinian journalists
Anas dedicated his life to standing before the camera, exposing Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians, and documenting the truth so the world could bear witness. Despite Israeli Forces killing his father, bombing his house and continual threats to his life, he remained firm in his commitment and duty to his people.
Anas was clear: he didn’t fear death or his own life, he was worried about his wife and two small children.
However, when he was threatened with ‘silence or death’, I felt we needed to raise global attention and so I launched the #ProtectAnasAlSharif campaign.
The calculated threats against Anas escalated to such an extent that Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), other international organisations, and UN Special Rapporteurs supported the campaign in an effort to protect him.
The false accusations Israel charged at Palestinian journalists effectively signed their death warrants, as was the case with Hosham Shabat who they assassinated shortly after. Another journalist, Ismail al-Ghould, was accused of being a member of Hamas by Israel in reference to false documentation that claims he would have been a senior member at age ten.
What happened to Anas is emblematic of a wider, well-documented pattern: Israel’s deliberate and systematic targeting of journalists, aid workers, and healthcare workers. This is a calculated effort by Israel to conceal and erase any evidence or documentation of the genocide and its atrocities.
The Israeli strike that killed Anas and Al-Jazeera journalists in their tent near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, including Anas Mohammed Qreiqeh, and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Moamen Aliwa, and an unnamed assistant, was not an isolated incident.
It was deliberate, and by design. Israeli Forces even proudly boasted of their crime afterwards.
Al-Jazeera journalists have spoken about how Israel is killing them in order to bury the story. Anas himself said “[t]he Israeli army is once again threatening journalists for exposing the truth from Gaza. I was directly targeted for incitement by the army’s spokesperson.”
We all remember Shireen Abu Akleh who was shot by an Israeli sniper in the back of the head almost three years ago while reporting on an Israeli raid in Jenin. At first, Israel blamed Palestinian resistance fighters, except they were not in the area. Four months later they admitted it was likely she was shot by Israeli forces.
Despite being a US citizen, we have since discovered that the US administration did not push for any investigation of her death and to date no one has been held to account.
Paying the price for truth
Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza has exacted a devastating toll on journalists, those who risk their lives to report the truth, while carrying out their critical role of bearing witness and documenting atrocities.
If we allow the assassination of Abu Akleh, Ial Ghoul, Shabbat, and Anas, amongst many others, to go without any retribution or justice then we’re allowing the continued massacre of journalists in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. We are dangerously setting a lifelong precedent for the targeted assassination of journalists and freedom of the press everywhere.
More journalists have been killed in Israel's genocide than ever in history. Israel must not be allowed to deliberately attack and kill journalists with impunity. Justice must be served.
I honour Anas’ final words: “Do not forget Gaza. And do not forget me in your sincere prayers”.
I also hope to continue to honour his work, through Amnesty, campaigning for an immediate end the Gaza genocide, demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire, for humanitarian aid access by UN agencies at scale, and the enforcing of the International Criminal Court arrest warrants, as well as for Australia to impose a two-way arms embargo and protect journalists reporting in Gaza.
Anas lived and died by his own words to, “provide international protection for the Palestinian journalists so they can continue, until their last breath, to transmit images and words from inside Gaza, in the complete absence of foreign and Western media.”
My Brother, I will never forget you, your smile, your determination and what you did for our people. Israel tried to kill you, but history will never forget your sacrifice and you will forever live on in my heart and soul as well as in the billions around the world you never met.
Mohamed Duar is a member of Sydney Peace Prize Jury and Council. He is also Amnesty International Australia's Occupied Palestinian Territory Spokesperson. He holds a Master of Human Rights from the University of Sydney.
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