Investigation Reveals Coordinated Smear Campaign Against Slain Palestinian Journalist Anas al-Sharif

Gaza, Aug 24: An investigation has uncovered how a coordinated smear campaign targeted renowned Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif both before his killing by Israeli forces and even after his death, in an effort to undermine his credibility and justify the attacks.

The findings, published Sunday by open-source intelligence platform Eekad, detailed how pro-Palestinian Authority (PA) individuals and media accounts amplified Israeli narratives, spreading slander and incitement against al-Sharif over several months. The report concluded that these efforts closely mirrored Israeli strategies of delegitimizing journalists, hospitals, and civilian institutions in Gaza ahead of military strikes.

According to the probe, the campaign intensified in October 2024, when Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee accused al-Sharif of ties to the Hamas resistance movement and labeled him “the voice of lies.” Pro-PA digital networks soon echoed the same rhetoric, portraying the journalist as biased and untrustworthy.

Smear attempts escalated in January 2025, when a Telegram channel called al-Monkhol branded him a “planted agent,” using threatening and derogatory language. By June and July, as Israeli forces prepared an assault on Gaza City, pro-PA accounts renewed accusations of Hamas affiliation, further fueling the campaign.

Even after al-Sharif’s death on August 10 in targeted Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City that also killed four other Al Jazeera staff members, the defamation persisted. Both Israeli and pro-PA voices doubled down on claims that he was a Hamas operative, attempting to justify his assassination.

Eekad’s report emphasized that such tactics are not new, drawing parallels to the case of Shireen Abu Akleh, the veteran Al Jazeera journalist killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2022 after being similarly subjected to defamation campaigns.

Observers say the targeting of al-Sharif reflects a wider strategy of discrediting journalists who report on the suffering of Palestinians under siege. Despite the smear efforts, al-Sharif was widely respected for his decades-long commitment to documenting Gaza’s humanitarian crisis under extreme conditions.

His colleagues and supporters hailed him as a “voice of truth” silenced by violence but not erased by propaganda.