The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday conducted an overnight airstrike in Gaza City that killed Anas Al-Sharif, a journalist for the Al Jazeera network, who the IDF said was the commander of a terror cell.
Al-Sharif was with four other journalists at the time of the strike, who were also killed.
Shortly before his death, Al-Sharif posted a last message on X, describing “non-stop bombing” in Gaza City.
The IDF previously found documents, including rosters of Hamas militants, indicating that Anas Al-Sharif served as head of a terrorist cell in the Jabaliya battalion and was responsible for rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and Israeli troops.
Those documents — part of previously disclosed intelligence — along with others found in the Gaza Strip, confirmed his membership in Hamas’ military wing. In a statement, the IDF said the evidence “once again confirms his involvement in terrorist activities, from which the Al Jazeera network has attempted to disassociate itself.”
The documents, first revealed by the IDF in October 2024, include personnel rosters, training course lists, phone directories, and salary records, providing proof of al-Sharif’s service in Hamas’ military wing in the Gaza Strip.
Photos indicate that, as both an Al Jazeera journalist and a Hamas militant, al-Sharif had access to high-level Hamas leadership.
The documents released by the IDF last year revealed Hamas’ integration within the Qatari Al Jazeera network, including the establishment of a secure communication line between them and directives from Hamas instructing the Qatari news agency on how to cover the conflict in alignment with the group’s interests.
The IDF did not make any claims regarding membership in terror organizations for the other four journalists killed in the strike.
Throughout the Oct. 7 war in Gaza, Israel has provided evidence that many Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza were also members of Hamas’ military wing.
Al Jazeera has routinely denied Israel’s claims that some of its journalists are terrorists, accusing Israel of systematically “targeting” its employees in the enclave. The news agency ran a story about the death of al-Sharif without mentioning his membership in the Hamas terror organization. Al Jazeera accused Israel of conducting “a planned assassination of reporters and photographers by Israeli forces. This is a blatant and deliberate attack on freedom of the press.”
Sky News wrote an article about the killing, accusing Israel of targeting journalists.
“The targeted killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al Sharif and four other colleagues by the IDF late last night silences more crucial reporting voices from inside Gaza,” the Sky News report stated.
The New York-based NGO Committee to Protect Journalists said Israel had targeted al-Sharif in a “smear campaign.” The NGO has previously accused Israel of targeting journalists in an attempt to suppress negative coverage. It has not directly responded to the IDF’s claims or evidence regarding al-Sharif’s Hamas membership, but has previously blamed “blurry” IDF documentation as being inconclusive, despite higher resolution versions being located on the IDF’s English page.
Media watchdog group HonestReporting.com has also noted incidents in which the Committee has falsely or inaccurately labeled deaths of journalists in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in a way that consistently implicates Israel.
The military noted that before the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.
“The IDF will continue to operate against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip,” the statement read.
This article was originally published by All Israel News.
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