Gaza: UN experts appalled by murder of Al Jazeera correspondents in Israeli strike
Press releases
Special Procedures
12 August 2025
GENEVA -- The deliberate killing of four Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, including correspondent Anas Al-Sharif, was an attempt to silence reporting on the ongoing genocide and starvation campaign in the besieged enclave, UN experts* said today, condemning the targeted attacks in the strongest possible terms.
"The killing of four journalists just as Israel announces its plan to take over Gaza City is no coincidence, but a deliberate attempt to silence those who would have exposed the IDF's atrocities to the world," the experts said.
On Sunday 10 August 2025, Israel's armed forces killed Al Jazeera correspondents Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal in an airstrike on a tent near al-Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City. In a statement, the IDF said the killings were targeted, and accused Al-Sharif of being the head of a Hamas terrorist cell, citing alleged intelligence and documents found in Gaza.
On 31 July 2025, the Special Rapporteurs denounced serious threats and unfounded accusations against Anas Al-Sharif by an Israeli army spokesperson and flagged it as a well-known, shameful tactic by the IDF to silence the truth about heinous crimes committed in Gaza.
"It is outrageous that the Israeli army dares to first launch a campaign to smear Anas Al-Sharif as Hamas in order to discredit his reporting and then kill him and his colleagues for speaking the truth to the world," the experts said.
"We demand an immediate independent investigation into the killings and for Israel to urgently grant full access to the international media to enter Gaza. If Israel has nothing to hide, why does it continue to keep international journalists out?" they said.
"If Israel again refuses an independent investigation or access for international journalists, it will reconfirm its own culpability and cover up of the genocide."
"Journalism is not terrorism. Israel has provided no credible evidence of the latter against any of the journalists that it has targeted and killed with impunity," the experts said.
"These are acts of an arrogant army that believes itself to be impune, no matter the gravity of the crimes it commits. The impunity must end. The States that continue to support Israel must now place tough sanctions against its government in order to end the killings, the atrocities and the mass starvation."
The experts are in contact with the Government of Israel on this matter.
*The experts:
- Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.
- Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.
Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/
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