Israel told Anas Al-Sharif he could leave Gaza if he stopped reporting – he refused

Martyred journalist Anas Al-Sharif’s brother has revealed that Israeli authorities offered a sickening deal to Anas just before his death. They told him that if he stopped reporting on Gaza, he and his family could leave safely. Anas refused. Then, Israel killed him for shining a light on Israel’s genocide.

AJ+ reported that:

Anas’ brother says the Al Jazeera journalist chose to keep reporting the truth until his last breath.

When offered the deal, just 4 days before his death, Anas said:

Either I live and see the end of the war, or I die a martyr.

Israel targeted Anas Al-Sharif

Israel repeatedly threatened Anas before killing him. As the Canary’s Charlie Jaay reported:

The occupation launched a long-running smear campaign against him, in 2023, accusing him – with zero evidence – of belonging to the military wing of Hamas, and he experienced death threats. Less than two weeks ago, the Canary reported on IOF spokesperson, Avichay Adraee’s false accusations against Al-Sharif, which led the journalist to accurately predict that this campaign against him was a precursor to his assassination.

Anas’ employers, Al Jazeera, hoped that by keeping him on the air, he would be protected. Al Jazeera Managing Editor Mohamed Moawad said:

We took the hard decision to keep Anas on air because it felt like the only guarantee, that they would not kill him while he was on Al Jazeera’s screens.

But, Israel did target him irrespective of his position. Indeed, so vital was Anas’ reporting on their genocide, that Israel killed him for doing his job. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), who had previously pleaded for the world to intervene against the serious threat to Anas’ life, released a statement reading:

Israel has a longstanding, documented pattern of accusing journalists of being terrorists without providing any credible proof.

CPJ Regional Director Sara Quduh said:

Israel is murdering the messenger. Israel wiped out an entire news crew. It has made no claims that any of the other journalists were terrorists. That’s murder. Plain and simple.

Quduh explained that as one of the best-known reporters, Anas’ murder was due to his diligent reporting:

It is no coincidence that the smears against al-Sharif — who has reported night and day for Al Jazeera since the start of the war — surfaced every time he reported on a major development in the war, most recently the starvation brought about by Israel’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into the territory.

War crime

Israel has repeatedly targeted Palestinian journalists, for fear of their continued exposure of Israel’s atrocities. And, global powers have largely not only allowed this to happen but emboldened Israel’s extermination of the Palestinian press. As always, individual organisations are working to hold Israel to account. The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) have come together to take Anas’ killers to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a joint statement they wrote:

By any measure, Anas Al-Sharif should still be alive.

They explained that the murder of Anas and the other press colleagues who were also killed – Mohamemd Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa – was:

not just another tragedy in a long war on the press. This was a clear-cut criminal act—a war crime and part of a broader genocidal campaign—and it demanded a direct, targeted legal response.

The two have now filed a case for the ICC where they:

• demonstrate the chain of command and operational decisions taken by Israeli commanders that led to Anas’ killing
• provide documentation for other instances of premeditated murder of journalists by Israel

In doing so, they’re attempting to make the case that Isreal has an established policy of killing journalists. HRF and PCHR have compiled evidence that Israel is utilising the following strategy when targeting Al Jazeera journalists:

1. Label them terrorists without any plausible proof.
2. Smear them publicly to dehumanize and justify their killing.
3. Eliminate them in targeted strikes.

Strategic extermination

HRF chairperson Dyab About Jahjah said:

The assassination of Anas Al-Sharif was so blunt, so arrogant, and so drenched in contempt for human life, truth, the legal order, and humanity itself, that it cannot and will not be allowed to pass into silence.

The two groups are clear that their complaint to the ICC is not symbolic; they are bringing their case forward because they believe they have the necessary evidence to incite arrest warrants and prosecutions.

Anas prepared a final will and statement – a remarkable position for a 28 year old to be in, knowing his people’s oppressors were coming for him. He wrote:

Allah knows I gave every effort and all my strength to be a support and a voice for my people, ever since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabalia refugee camp.

Like an overwhelming number of Palestinians, Anas is one of those who were born in refugee camps. To the very end, Anas fought for his people, knowing he would be killed for doing so:

I entrust you with Palestine—the jewel in the crown of the Muslim world, the heartbeat of every free person in this world. I entrust you with its people, with its wronged and innocent children who never had the time to dream or live in safety and peace. Their pure bodies were crushed under thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart and scattered across the walls.

I urge you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you. Be bridges toward the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland.

The HRF and PCHR are making themselves into those bridges of liberation. Onslaught after onslaught from Israel, horrific war crime after horrific war crime – but each atrocity, each universe extinguished in the form of each Palestinian must be reckoned with.

Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Middle East Eye