JERUSALEM — An outpouring of grief and condemnation has followed Israel's assassination of prominent Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, including and five other staff members.

Crowds have gathered in Gaza to mourn the journalists who were among seven people killed by Israel in a military strike on Gaza late Sunday.

The Israeli military said it targeted 28-year-old al-Sharif, alleging he had "served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas", but has produced little evidence to support that claim.

Al Jazeera called it a "targeted assassination" and "yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom".

The UN condemned the killings as a "grave breach of international humanitarian law", while the Committee to Protect Journalists said 186 journalists have now been killed since the start of Israel's military offensive in Gaza in October 2023.

Al Jazeera English’s director of news, Salah Negm, has just said the Israeli strike amounted to “killing the messenger and trying to eliminate any eyewitness to atrocities and genocide.”

“They have been working for two years under very difficult circumstances, risking their lives in order for one thing to happen, to bring the truth about what is happening in Gaza to the outside world,” Negm told CNN’s Christina Macfarlane on Connect the World. “Our correspondents died doing this.”

The Israeli government does not allow international news organizations into Gaza to report freely, so many outlets rely on Gaza-based reporters for coverage.

The Palestinian group Hamas has decried Israel’s assassination of Al Jazeera’s journalists in Gaza.

In a statement, Hamas described the attack as part of a “widespread targeting of journalists unprecedented in any war”, saying it aimed to silence media coverage in Gaza ahead of “major crimes” planned against Palestinians in the besieged territory.

It called on the United Nations Security Council and the international community to condemn the killings and take immediate action to hold Israeli leaders accountable for what it called war crimes.

It added that al-Sharif had been a “symbol of free journalism”, documenting scenes of famine in Gaza and the impact of Israel’s crippling siege.

The drone attack late on Sunday hit a tent for journalists positioned outside the main gate of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, killing seven people. Among the dead were Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Noufal.

A sixth journalist, Mohammad al-Khaldi, a local freelance reporter, was also reported killed in the air attack. Reporters Without Borders said three more journalists were wounded in the same strike.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei has called on the world to hold Israel to account after the killing of the five Al Jazeera staff.

“A press badge is no shield against genocidal war criminals who fear the world witnessing their atrocities,” said Baghaei, accusing Israel of assassinating the journalists “in cold blood”.

“Strong condemnation is the bare minimum for any decent human being, but the world must act immediately to stop this harrowing genocide and hold the criminals accountable,” he added.

“Indifference and inaction are complicity in Israel’s crimes.”

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, has strongly criticised Israel over the killing of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, calling it a shocking violation of press freedom.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, offered condolences to “the Al Jazeera family” and called for an investigation.

“We have always been very clear in condemning all killings of journalists,” Dujarric said. “In Gaza, and everywhere, media workers should be able to carry out their work freely and without harassment, intimidation or fear of being targeted.”

The Israeli strike came less than a year after Israeli army officials first accused al-Sharif and other Al Jazeera journalists of being members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

In a 24 July video, Israel’s army spokesperson Avichay Adraee criticized the Qatar-based network and accused al-Sharif of being part of Hamas’ military wing.

Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) raised concerns for his safety, saying he was targeted by "an Israeli military smear campaign.”

Al-Sharif has extensively reported on the war in Gaza from inside the Strip amid an ongoing media blackout imposed by Israel.

Just hours before the attack on him, al-Sharif had posted on X about Israel’s “intense, concentrated bombardment” on eastern and southern Gaza City. Known for his fearless reporting from northern Gaza, he had become one of the most recognisable voices documenting the ongoing Israeli genocide in the enclave.

Meanwhile, a video of Anas al-Sharif’s daughter has resurfaced following his assassination by Israeli forces.

The clip, which had been posted on al-Sharif’s X account on June 16, shows four-year-old Sham speaking from the northern Gaza Strip and is accompanied by the caption: “My little Sham Anas Al-Sharif’s message to the world, after 620 days of the war of extermination in Gaza: How can this small heart bear these heavy burdens?! Our children are the fruits of pain ripened by the war!”.

In the video, the girl says: “I am the child Sham Anas al-Sharif from the northern Gaza Strip. I am four years old. I have lived through the war.

“The occupation bombed us and bombed the houses. Netanyahu doesn’t want to stop the war. I wish I could go back to our home in Jabalia.

“The occupation bombed our house and killed my grandfather [Sidou]. I want to live like the children of the world. The occupation keeps bombing us.

“We want the war to end because we are tired. We want food. We want chicken. We want meat. We want water. We want everything. I am scared for my dad because of the bombing. We want the war to stop. We call on the world. End the war.” — Agencies