India, July 26 -- Anas Al-Sharif, a news reporter in Gaza, is allegedly facing a direct threat from Israel to his life after continued online attacks by a spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). "A precursor to my assassination" is how the 28-year-old Palestinian journalist has described it.

Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based news outlet for which he works, and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have expressed immediate alarm over the threats by IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee, who accuses Al-Sharif of being a terrorist.

"Avichay Adraee's campaign is not only a media threat or an image destruction; it is a real-life threat," Al-Sharif was quoted as saying by the CPJ.

Al-Sharif is married and has at least one c...