Israel says Al Jazeera journalist killed in airstrike was head of Hamas ‘terrorist cell’

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Aftermath of Israeli airstrike that killed Al Jazeera journalist and his colleagues

The Israel Defense Forces said Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif was the head of a Hamas terrorist cell. (Credit: APTN)

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An Al Jazeera journalist who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip was the leader of a Hamas “terrorist cell,” the Israel Defense Forces announced. 

Anas Al-Sharif and four of his colleagues – identified by Al Jazeera as correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa – died Sunday in what the Qatari-based network called a “targeted Israeli attack” on a tent housing journalists in Gaza City. 

“The IDF struck the terrorist Anas Al-Sharif, who posed as a journalist for the Al Jazeera network,” the Israeli military said in a statement. “Anas Al-Sharif served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organization and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops. 

The IDF also said it “previously disclosed intelligence information and many documents found in the Gaza Strip” confirming Al-Sharif’s military affiliation with Hamas, from which “the Al Jazeera network has attempted to disassociate itself.” 

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This undated recent image, taken from video broadcast by the Qatari-based television station Al Jazeera, shows the network’s Arabic-language Gaza correspondent, Anas al-Sharif, reporting on camera in Gaza. Al-Sharif and four other Al Jazeera staff members were found dead following an Israeli drone strike on their tent in Gaza City shortly before midnight on Sunday.  (Al Jazeera via AP)

“A press badge isn’t a shield for terrorism,” the IDF wrote on X. 

Al Jazeera and Al-Sharif previously rejected claims of his affiliation with Hamas, according to Reuters. 

“Al Jazeera Media Network condemns in the strongest terms the targeted assassination of its correspondents Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh … by the Israeli occupation forces in yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom,” the network said. 

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Palestinians inspect the destroyed tent where journalists, including Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, were found dead following an Israeli airstrike outside the Gaza City’s Shifa hospital complex on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. (AP/Jehad Alshrafi)

“Anas and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices from within Gaza, providing the world with unfiltered, on-the-ground coverage of the devastating realities endured by its people. While international media was barred from entering, Al Jazeera journalists remained within besieged Gaza, experiencing the hunger and suffering they documented through their lenses,” it added. 

The U.N. Human Rights Office also wrote on X that it condemned the killings and called for “immediate, safe and unhindered access to Gaza for all journalists.” 

Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Aug. 10, 2025, stands at a landfill as he reports the news in Gaza City on Aug. 13, 2024.  (Reuters/Dawoud Abu Alkas)

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The IDF said the documents it found in the Gaza Strip “include personnel rosters, lists of terrorist training courses, phone directories, and salary documents for the terrorist, and provide unequivocal proof that [Al-Sharif] serves as a military terrorist in Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.