Opening summary: outrage as Israeli troops kill Al Jazeera journalist in Gaza City
A prominent Al Jazeera journalist who had previously been threatened by Israel has been killed along with four colleagues in an Israeli airstrike.
Anas al-Sharif, who was one of Al Jazeera’s most recognisable faces in Gaza, was killed while inside a tent for journalists outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday night.
Seven people in total were killed in the attack, including al-Sharif, Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster.
The Israel Defense Force admitted the strike, claiming the reporter had “served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organisation and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF forces”.
Rights advocates said he had been targeted for his frontline reporting on the Gaza war and that Israel’s claim lacked evidence.
In July, al-Sharif told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that he lived with the “feeling that I could be bombed and martyred at any moment”.
After the attack, the CPJ said it was “appalled” to learn of the journalists’ deaths.
“Israel’s pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” said CPJ regional director Sara Qudah.
“Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable.”
You can read our report here:
Other key updates include:
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Australia will recognise a Palestinian state next month, prime minister Anthony Albanese said, joining the leaders of France, Britain and Canada in signalling they would do so. Albanese told reporters after a Cabinet meeting Monday that Australia’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state will be formalised at the United Nations General Assembly in September. “A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,” Albanese said. Those commitments included no role for Hamas in a Palestinian government, demilitarisation of Gaza and the holding of elections, he said.
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended a new military offensive in Gaza that is more sweeping than previously announced, declaring in the face of growing condemnation at home and abroad that Israel “has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas.” Netanyahu said the security Cabinet last week instructed the dismantling of Hamas strongholds not only in Gaza City but also in the “central camps” and Muwasi. The camps – sheltering well over a half-million displaced people, according to the UN – had not been part of Israel’s announcement on Friday. It was not clear why, though Netanyahu faced criticism this weekend within his ruling coalition that targeting Gaza City was not enough. Netanyahu said there would be “safe zones,” but such designated areas have been bombed in the past.
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The UN has warned Gaza faces “starvation, pure and simple” as child deaths mount. The body’s humanitarian office OCHA said 98 children had died from acute malnutrition since the start of the conflict in October 2023, with 37 of those deaths since July, according to Gaza’s authorities.
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The US defended Israel at security council meeting, saying it has the right to decide what’s best for its security. It called allegations of genocide in Gaza false. The US has veto power at the council and can block proposed actions there.
Key events
Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City is “a matter of grave concern,” China’s permanent representative to the UN Fu Cong, said at a weekend meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue held by the UN Security Council, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reports.
Urging Israel to “stop this dangerous move at once,” Fu said: “Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people. It is an integral part of the Palestinian territory. Any action that seeks to alter its demographic and territorial structure must be met with utmost rejection and resistance.”
Reporters Without Borders has condemned the “acknowledged murder by the Israeli army” of Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif in Gaza, who the armed forces admitted they had targeted, along with several of his colleagues.
The press freedom campaign group told news agency AFP it “strongly and angrily condemns the acknowledged murder by the Israeli army” of al-Sharif and other journalists.
Israel accused al-Sharif of being a Hamas terrorist. The UN and others have said Israel had not provided credible evidence for these claims.
Our video team has produced a report on Israel’s strike on the Al Jazeera media tent in Gaza City that killed seven, including journalists Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster.
Activists staged a protest on the roof of a Microsoft datacentre in the Netherlands after revelations the Israeli military is storing large volumes of data in the country.
Images posted on social media showed some of the activists blocking access to the large Microsoft facility in the north-west of the country on Sunday, while others scaled the building’s roof and lit flares.
The group, Geef Tegengas (Push Back), said its protest was in response to a recent Guardian investigation that revealed how the Israeli military surveillance agency Unit 8200 has used Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store a vast collection of intercepted Palestinian phone calls.
Read the full report here:
The head of Iran’s top security body, Ali Larijani, will visit Iraq today before heading to Lebanon, where the government has approved a plan to disarm Tehran’s ally Hezbollah, state media said, AFP reports.
His trip to Lebanon comes after Tehran expressed strong opposition to a Lebanese government plan to disarm Hezbollah, an Iran-backed paramilitary force.
“In Lebanon, our positions are already clear. Lebanese national unity is important and must be preserved in all circumstances. Lebanon’s independence is still important to us and we will contribute to it,” Larijani told state TV before departing.
Before its war with Israel, Hezbollah was believed to be better armed than the Lebanese military. It built its popularity, in part, on resistance to Israel, which occupied southern Lebanon for nearly two decades until 2000.
On Saturday, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, described the plan to disarm Hezbollah as compliance “to the will of the United States and Israel”.
IDF posts al-Sharif claims on social media
Reuters provides more detail on the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif.
Last October, Israel’s military had named al-Sharif as one of six Gaza journalists it alleged were members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, citing documents it said showed lists of people who completed training courses and salaries.
On X, the IDF posted what it said were documents showing al-Sharif’s connection to Hamas. The Guardian could not independently verify these claims.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, which in July urged the international community to protect al-Sharif, said in a statement that Israel had failed to provide any evidence to back up its allegations against him.
“Israel’s pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Last month Israeli IDF spokesperson Avichai Adraee shared a video of al-Sharif on X and accused him of being a member of Hamas’ military wing. At the time the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, Irene Khan, called it “an unsubstantiated claim” and a “blatant assault on journalists”.
AP provides some more detail on Australia’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state next month:
PM Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra that recognition would be predicated on commitments Australia received from the Palestinian Authority, including that Islamist militant group Hamas would have no involvement in any future state.
“A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,” Albanese said at a press conference.
Albanese said he spoke with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and told him a political solution was needed and not a military one.
Australia last week criticised Israel’s plan to take military control of Gaza, and Albanese said the decision to recognise a Palestinian state was “further compelled” by Netanyahu’s disregard of the international community’s calls and failure to comply with legal and ethical obligations in Gaza.
“The Netanyahu Government is extinguishing the prospect of a two-state solution by rapidly expanding illegal settlements, threatening annexation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and explicitly opposing any Palestinian state,” Albanese said in the joint statement with foreign minister Penny Wong.
Commitments by the Palestinian Authority to reform governance, demilitarise and hold general elections, as well as Arab League demands for Hamas to end its rule in Gaza, created an opportunity, he said.
“This is an opportunity to isolate Hamas,” he added.
Three-quarters of UN members have already, or soon plan to, recognise Palestinian statehood, according to a tally by news agency Agence France-Presse.
According to the tally, at least 145 of the 193 UN members now recognise or plan to recognise a Palestinian state, including France, Canada, Britain and most recently, Australia.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, lambasted Australia and the European countries that are considering the recognition of a Palestinian state.
He said the countries are “falling into a rabbit hole”, and that debate around such recognition is “shameful”. “I think it’s actually shameful, but it’s not going to … change our position,” he said.
Cogat provided an update on aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip on Saturday:
In a post on X the agency, a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense tasked with logistics between Israel and the Gaza Strip, said:
“Aid entry: Over 280 trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.
Aid collection: 300 trucks were collected and distributed by the UN and international organizations.
Fuel: Tankers of @UN fuel entered for the operation of essential humanitarian systems.
Airdrops: 131 pallets of aid were airdropped in cooperation with the UAE, Jordan, Germany, Belguim, Italy, the Netherlands and France.
We will continue expanding our efforts to facilitate humanitarian aid for the civilian population of Gaza.”
More aid now appears to be entering Gaza after months of strict Israeli blockade. Yesterday the UN’s humanitarian office, OCHA said 98 children had died in Gaza from acute malnutrition since the start of the conflict in October 2023, with 37 of those deaths since July. OCHA’s coordination director Ramesh Rajasingham said the situation in Gaza had developed into full blown starvation: “This is no longer a looming hunger crisis – this is starvation, pure and simple.”
Opening summary: outrage as Israeli troops kill Al Jazeera journalist in Gaza City
A prominent Al Jazeera journalist who had previously been threatened by Israel has been killed along with four colleagues in an Israeli airstrike.
Anas al-Sharif, who was one of Al Jazeera’s most recognisable faces in Gaza, was killed while inside a tent for journalists outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday night.
Seven people in total were killed in the attack, including al-Sharif, Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster.
The Israel Defense Force admitted the strike, claiming the reporter had “served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organisation and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF forces”.
Rights advocates said he had been targeted for his frontline reporting on the Gaza war and that Israel’s claim lacked evidence.
In July, al-Sharif told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that he lived with the “feeling that I could be bombed and martyred at any moment”.
After the attack, the CPJ said it was “appalled” to learn of the journalists’ deaths.
“Israel’s pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” said CPJ regional director Sara Qudah.
“Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable.”
You can read our report here:
Other key updates include:
-
Australia will recognise a Palestinian state next month, prime minister Anthony Albanese said, joining the leaders of France, Britain and Canada in signalling they would do so. Albanese told reporters after a Cabinet meeting Monday that Australia’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state will be formalised at the United Nations General Assembly in September. “A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,” Albanese said. Those commitments included no role for Hamas in a Palestinian government, demilitarisation of Gaza and the holding of elections, he said.
-
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended a new military offensive in Gaza that is more sweeping than previously announced, declaring in the face of growing condemnation at home and abroad that Israel “has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas.” Netanyahu said the security Cabinet last week instructed the dismantling of Hamas strongholds not only in Gaza City but also in the “central camps” and Muwasi. The camps – sheltering well over a half-million displaced people, according to the UN – had not been part of Israel’s announcement on Friday. It was not clear why, though Netanyahu faced criticism this weekend within his ruling coalition that targeting Gaza City was not enough. Netanyahu said there would be “safe zones,” but such designated areas have been bombed in the past.
-
The UN has warned Gaza faces “starvation, pure and simple” as child deaths mount. The body’s humanitarian office OCHA said 98 children had died from acute malnutrition since the start of the conflict in October 2023, with 37 of those deaths since July, according to Gaza’s authorities.
-
The US defended Israel at security council meeting, saying it has the right to decide what’s best for its security. It called allegations of genocide in Gaza false. The US has veto power at the council and can block proposed actions there.
