Five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in an Israeli attack near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the Qatar-based network reported.

Correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, along with cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, were in a journalists' tent at the hospital's main entrance when it was attacked, Al Jazeera reported.

The news channel issued a statement calling it a “targeted killing” and “another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom.”

Shortly afterwards, the Israeli military confirmed it had targeted Anas al-Sharif and accused him on Telegram of “serving as the head of a Hamas terror cell.”

The Israeli military did not name any of the other journalists who were killed.

In the last few minutes, the Reuters news agency reported that another journalist, Mohammad al-Khaldi, also died in the attack, although he did not work for Al Jazeera but for various media outlets. Throughout the war, Israel has not allowed international journalists to enter Gaza to report freely. Because of this, many media outlets rely on local reporters inside Gaza for their coverage.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international civil society organization defending press freedom, 186 journalists have been killed since the start of Israel's military offensive in Gaza in October 2023.

“Unseen before”

Al Jazeera editorial director Mohamed Moawad told the BBC that al-Sharif was an accredited journalist who had become “the only voice” for the world to know what was happening in the Gaza Strip.

“They were attacked in their tent, they were not covering it from the front,” Moawad said of the Israeli attack.

"The fact is that the Israeli government wants to silence any news channel's coverage from inside Gaza," he told the BBC's "The Newsroom" program.

"This is something I've never seen before in modern history."

Al-Sharif, 28, appeared to have been posted on X moments before his death, in messages in which he warned of intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza City. One message that was posted after his death was reported was apparently pre-written and posted by a friend.

In two videos of the aftermath of the attack, which have been confirmed by BBC Verify, men can be seen carrying the bodies of those who died. Some shout Mohammed Qreiqeh's name, and a man wearing a press vest says one of the bodies is that of Anas al-Sharif.

The Israeli military statement accused al-Sharif of posing as a journalist and of being "responsible for instigating rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and Israel Defense Forces troops." He said he had already “disclosed intelligence” confirming his military affiliation, including “lists of terrorist training courses.” “Prior to the attack, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the statement added. Last month, the media network Al Jazeera, along with the United Nations and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), issued separate statements calling for al-Sharif's protection. The network denounced "relentless efforts" by the Israeli army for an "ongoing incitement campaign targeting Al Jazeera correspondents and journalists in the Gaza Strip." "The network considers this incitement a dangerous attempt to justify attacks on its journalists on the ground," it added. The news of the deaths of the Al Jazeera journalists comes the day after the Israeli government approved the start of an offensive to take Gaza City, which has sparked criticism from several countries, protests within Israel and concern from international organizations about a possible worsening of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.