Israel kills Al Jazeera journalist it says was Hamas leader

11/8/2025 11:20

Israel's military said it killed a Hamas cell leader posing as an Al Jazeera journalist in a Gaza airstrike on Sunday, but rights advocates said he had been targeted for his frontline reporting on the Gaza war and Israel's claim lacked evidence.



Anas Al Sharif, 28, was among a group of four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant who died in a strike on a tent near Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City, Gaza officials and Al Jazeera said. An official at the hospital said two other people were also killed in the strike.



Al Sharif was the head of a Hamas cell and "was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF (Israeli) troops," the Israeli military said in a statement, citing intelligence and documents found in Gaza as evidence. Journalists' groups and Al Jazeera denounced the killings. The other journalists killed were Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal.



A press freedom group and a UN expert previously warned that Al Sharif's life was in danger due to his reporting from Gaza. U.N. Special Rapporteur Irene Khan said last month that Israel's claims against him were unsubstantiated.