Gaza city: The Israeli army's killing of five journalists, including Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohamed Qraiqea, constitutes a prelude to the Israeli plan to fully occupy Gaza City, Gaza's Government Media Office said on Monday.

According to Anadolu Agency, Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohamed Qraiqea were killed Sunday, along with three other Al Jazeera journalists, in an Israeli strike targeting a journalists' tent near the Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.

The media office stated, "The targeting of journalists and media institutions by the (Israeli) occupation's warplanes constitutes a full-fledged war crime aimed at silencing the truth and concealing evidence of genocide. It is a prelude to the (Israeli) occupation's criminal plan to cover up the past massacres that it has carried out and future massacres that it intends to commit in the Gaza Strip."

On Friday, Israel's Security Cabinet approved Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to occupy Gaza City fully, drawing sharp international backlash from governments and human rights bodies.

The Qatar-based channel quoted the director of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, who said, "Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohamed Qraiqea were martyred in an Israeli strike on their tent," without providing details.

Al Jazeera Media Network early Monday condemned the "planned" assassination of its correspondents and cameramen in the Gaza Strip, calling it "a desperate attempt to silence voices ahead of the occupation of Gaza."

The statement from Al Jazeera emphasized that "many Israeli army officials repeatedly incited and called for targeting Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues," as it held "the occupation army and its government responsible for targeting and assassinating its team."

The statement added that "the assassination of our correspondents by the Israeli occupation forces is another blatant and deliberate attack on press freedom."

According to the media office, the number of journalists killed since the start of Israel's genocide in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, has risen to 237, following the killing of al-Sharif and Qraiqea, along with three other journalists.