From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 11, 2025
Gantz defends IDF strike on Al Jazeera reporter, saying he was not a ‘real journalist’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
In an English-language tweet, Blue and White-National Unity chairman Benny Gantz defends the IDF’s killing of Anas al-Sharif, a prominent Palestinian journalist for Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, whom the military has long argued was a Hamas terrorist in charge of rocket launching.
“Real journalists uphold strict ethical and professional standards — and are worthy of protection,” declares Gantz, an ex-IDF chief of staff and former defense minister.
“Hamas terrorists and their accomplices, including ‘journalists’ who on Oct. 7 invaded Israel and gleefully filmed the slaughter — should be determinedly hunted and eliminated,” he insists.
Following Gazan media reports about Sharif’s death, the IDF confirmed carrying out a strike that killed him, saying he was a “terrorist operating under the guise of a journalist.”
The IDF noted that in October, it published documents seized in Gaza that it said “unequivocally” confirmed Sharif’s “military affiliation with Hamas.” At the time, the military said Sharif headed a rocket-launching squad and was a member of an elite Nukhba Force company in Hamas’s East Jabalia Battalion.
A press freedom group and a UN expert previously warned that Sharif’s life was in danger due to his reporting from Gaza. UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan claimed last month that Israel’s allegations against him were unsubstantiated.
The Times of Israel Community.