I first met Anas Al-Sharif in in November 2023 at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, which was the biggest complex in the war-torn Gaza City. Israel had just ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza, a first step toward depopulating the area during an earlier stage of the genocide.

Anas was lying on the floor in front of the emergency room with tears in his eyes.

“Why are you so sad?” I asked him sardonically. “We’re still at the beginning of this movie!”

He laughed. Anas felt the weight of the war heavily, but he was still from Gaza, and we have our trademarked Ghazawi way of lighthearted humor in the face the most unfathomable loss and unbearably dark days.

“You’re right,” he responded. “The climax, the real tragedy, the end of the story, are still on the way.”

For Anas, the end would come too soon.

On Monday, Anas, 28, was targeted, along with three other Al Jazeera journalists, in an Israeli strike on a tent complex around Al-Shifa Hospital.

The Israeli government mocked him in death — even accusing him of being a Hamas operative. It’s their way of belittling Anas because he did something so small as tell our story.

Israel fears so many simple facets of Palestinian life, a child wearing a keffiyeh or a mother telling her son to fight for Palestine. Above all, though, Israel fears the people who tell the world about what is happening in Gaza — the war, the genocide, the famine. Anas made it a mission to tell these stories, our stories, all over the world. And people listened.

For me, though, Anas wasn’t just a star journalist. He shepherded me through tough times, encouraged me to do reporting, and shared his knowledge freely. Along with my father, Anas’s strength was the biggest inspiration to my life. It helped keep me going. He was a mentor and, moreover, a friend.

In the hospital that day we met, we chatted for a couple hours.

We both grew up in Jabaliya refugee camp. He knew some of my relatives.

© The Intercept