Overview

• Seventeen senators, including Bernie Sanders, sent a letter urging the State Department to investigate the Aug. 10 strike that killed six media workers in Gaza.
• The lawmakers asked for an assessment of Israel’s compliance with international law and U.S. policy, reforms to IDF rules of engagement, and greater access for foreign journalists to Gaza.
• They wrote that Israel has not provided convincing public evidence that Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif was a militant and warned that targeting journalists would violate international law.
• The IDF says al-Sharif led a Hamas cell, was an active operative paid by the group, and that additional supporting intelligence remains classified; officials contend others killed were also terrorists.
• Reporting and public records cited in coverage indicate al-Sharif previously worked with a Hamas-linked media unit and had ties to senior leadership, but no independent U.S. verification has been released.