‘If you read this, I'm dead’: Gaza reporter’s last post before being killed

Hours before the strike, Al Sharif posted what he called his “last will and testament,” warning that if it was being read, Israel had succeeded in killing him.

Anas Al Sharif, one of Gaza’s most recognisable journalists, was killed alongside four colleagues in an Israeli airstrike — hours after leaving behind a last will and testament on social media.

The strike and its targets

Five Al Jazeera staff, correspondent Al Sharif, reporter Mohammed Qreiqeh, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa, and Mohammed Noufal, died when an Israeli missile struck a journalists’ tent opposite Gaza City’s Al Shifa Medical Complex on Sunday.

While breaking the news live, an Al Jazeera anchor appeared to fight back tears reporting the deaths. The network called it a “targeted assassination” and one of the deadliest incidents for the network since the war began nearly two years ago.

The Israeli military confirmed the strike, accusing Al Sharif of being a Hamas operative who led a militant cell and advanced rocket attacks. It said intelligence documents from Gaza linked him to the group. The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate condemned the killings as an “assassination,” and press freedom groups called for an independent investigation.

A voice from Jabalia

Al Sharif, 28, grew up in Jabalia refugee camp and became known for frontline reports from northern Gaza. Hours before his death, he posted footage of nearby Israeli strikes. In a pre-written social media post, published after his killing, he called it his “last will and testament,” saying: “If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.” He urged Gazans not to be silenced and asked that his family — including a young daughter he had not seen grow up — be cared for.

Press freedom and the Gaza media gap

With foreign journalists largely barred from Gaza without Israeli military escort, local reporters like Al Sharif have been central to global coverage. Over 200 journalists have been killed there since the war began, according to press freedom groups.

The Committee to Protect Journalists warned that branding reporters as militants without public evidence “raises serious questions” about Israel’s respect for press freedom. Reporters Without Borders and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate called the strike a “bloody crime” and demanded an independent investigation, warning that the deaths of Gaza’s remaining reporters further erode transparency in a conflict already unfolding beyond most outside scrutiny.