“I have lived pain in all its details and I have tasted pain and loss repeatedly. Despite this, I have never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification. May God be a witness against those who remained silent and accepted our killing, and against those who choked our breath and whose hearts were not moved by the scattered remains of our children and women, and who did nothing to stop the massacre our people have faced for more than a year and a half.”

This is what Anas al-Sharif wrote in his “will” prepared four months before his martyrdom. It was posted on his social media account several hours after an Israeli strike killed him and journalists Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa at a media tent near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Anas al-Sharif was one of Gaza’s heroes. He was – without a doubt – the journalist closest to all our hearts.

People here in Gaza often hate the media. They see journalists either exaggerate and portray us as superhumans, able to withstand relentless bombing, the deprivation of food and water, and the loss of loved ones; or demonise us as “terrorists”, justifying the killing of our families and the destruction of our homes.

Anas was different; he did not distort the truth. He was one of us: raised in our refugee camps, suffering with us........

© Al Jazeera