The martyrdom of five Al Jazeera journalists — Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa — in a reported Israeli airstrike near the gates of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital marks another grim chapter in a war that has repeatedly blurred the lines between combatants and civilians. They were inside a tent designated for media personnel when they were killed.

These martyrs were not fighters. They were journalists; and in the eyes of many in the Arab world and beyond, martyrs to the cause of truth. Their role was to bear witness in one of the world’s most obscured and brutal conflicts. That they died while doing so underscores the growing vulnerability of media workers in modern warfare, where the press badge offers diminishing protection.

Al Jazeera Media Network, which has maintained a continuous presence inside Gaza throughout the war, has lost some of its most committed correspondents. Their martyrdom represents not only a personal loss to families and colleagues but also a setback to the wider mission of independent journalism in a region where transparency is both rare and hard-won.

Expressions of solidarity have flowed from around the globe, mourning their loss and condemning the circumstances of their deaths. Yet the broader concern persists: if journalists become targets, the public loses its eyes and ears on the ground.

These five may now be remembered as martyrs — not only to a profession, but to the ideal that truth, however contested or inconvenient, is worth the risk of pursuit.