Al Jazeera reporter Anas Al Sharif, father of two, brought the world to tears last month when he broke down on air while reporting on starvation in Gaza caused by Israel's blockade.
“Keep going Anas, you are our voice,” one bystander could be heard telling the journalist. Now the 'voice of Gaza' has been silenced forever.
The prominent correspondent was killed on Sunday night in an Israeli air strike attacking a tent housing the Al Jazeera crew near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city. The network's correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa were also killed in the attack, as well as a sixth journalist and another person.
In a statement, Al Jazeera condemned the killings as “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom”, calling Al Sharif, 28, “one of Gaza's bravest journalists”. The network said the attack was a “desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza”.
Al Sharif’s fearless frontline coverage for Al Jazeera Arabic made him one of the most recognised and followed reporters in Gaza. He was described as the ‘voice of Gaza’ by the media network.
The journalist and videographer was born and raised in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, which had come under intense Israeli attacks since October 2023.
Al Sharif graduated from the media faculty at Al Aqsa University in Gaza city with a degree in mass communication, specialising in radio and television.
Throughout his career, he received the Best Young Journalist Award in Palestine in 2018 for his reporting on Gaza. Last year, he was awarded Amnesty International Australia’s Human Rights Defender Award to “honour his extraordinary resilience, bravery, and commitment to press freedom while working in the most dangerous conditions”.
Al Sharif leaves behind a wife and two children, whom he barely saw throughout his coverage during the war. His father was killed by an Israeli strike on their family home in Jabalia in December 2023.
Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) raised concerns about Al Sharif’s safety.
“We are deeply alarmed by the repeated threats made by Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee against Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Anas Al-Sharif and call on the international community to protect him,” said CPJ regional director Sara Qudah. “This is not the first time Al Sharif has been targeted by the Israeli military, but the danger to his life is now acute.”
In a statement admitting to the deliberate killing of the journalists, Israel’s military accused Al Sharif of being affiliated with Hamas. Israel had increased accusations and threats against him since the journalist cried on air while reporting on starvation in Gaza, said CPJ.
Al Jazeera, CPJ and rights groups have all dismissed Israel’s claims as unfounded.
Al Sharif's colleague, Mohammed Qreiqa, was also killed in Israel's Sunday strike. The pair had been working together since August last year, when Al Sharif welcomed Qreiqa to the Al Jazeera team in Gaza city in a post on X.
Qreiqa, 32, was from the Al Shujaia neighbourhood in eastern Gaza city. The news correspondent was the only son to his mother, who was killed in an Israeli attack in March last year. Israel also killed his brother, Karim, in March in an air attack on Gaza city.
He leaves behind a wife and two children. In early 2025, Al Sharif had filmed the reunion of Qraiqea with his kids after 15 months of separation due to Israel's war.
Al Jazeera cameraman Ibrahim Zaher, 25, was from Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Mohammed Noufal, 29, was also from Jabalia. He lost his mother and one brother in earlier Israeli attacks. His other brother, Ibrahim, also works as a cameraman for Al Jazeera.
The sixth journalist, Mohammad Al Khaldi, was described as a Youtube news content creator by Reporters Without Borders.
Media workers in Gaza have been working relentlessly under dire conditions. A statement by Amnesty International said journalists in Gaza “endure relentless bombardment, displacement, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war” to report from the war-torn strip, where international journalists are banned from entry.
Despite threats to his life, Al Sharif said he would continue to report from the north, which has been under Israeli siege for months.
Moments before his death, Al Sharif shared a video to X, where loud Israeli bombing can be heard in the background. “Non stop bombing … For the past two hours, Israeli aggression on Gaza city has intensified,” he wrote on the social media platform.
His death was confirmed in a statement posted to his social media platforms as his “will and final message” to the world.
“If you're reading these words, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice,” read Al Sharif's statement.
“I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification, so Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women, doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half,” he continued.
“I entrust you with Palestine … its people … its oppressed children … the apple of my eye, my daughter … my dear son … my beloved mother … my lifelong partner, my wife … I urge you to be their support … and don't forget about Gaza,” he wrote in the haunting message.
Al Jazeera said Al Sharif and his colleagues were among the “last remaining voices in Gaza conveying the tragic reality to the world”. On Monday, hundreds of mourners gathered to bid farewell to the reporters. Their bodies were taken from Al Shifa Hospital to their houses and then to Sheikh Radwan cemetery in Gaza city for their burial.
At least 186 journalists have been killed by Israel in Gaza, according to CPJ.
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3 stars
'The Sky is Everywhere'
Director:Josephine Decker
Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
Golden Shoe top five (as of March 1):
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Lionel Messi, Barcelona, La Liga, 22 goals, 44 points
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Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
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UAE rugby in numbers
5 - Year sponsorship deal between Hesco and Jebel Ali Dragons
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Dh1.8m - Dubai Hurricanes' overall budget for next season
Dh2.8m - Dubai Exiles’ overall budget for next season
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Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
