From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
IDF claims Al Jazeera reporter it killed, along with 5 other journalists, was receiving Hamas salary
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Following international outcry over the killing of prominent Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif in an airstrike in Gaza City last night, the IDF doubles down on its claims that the reporter was an active member of Hamas’s military wing.
“Prior to the strike, we obtained current intelligence indicating that Sharif was an active Hamas military wing operative at the time of his elimination,” says the IDF’s international spokesman, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, on X.
“In addition, he received a salary from the Hamas terror group and terrorist supporters, Al-Jazeera, at the same time,” Shoshani claims.
The IDF spokesman says that the documents the army published in October, which it says prove he was an active Hamas member, are “only a small, declassified portion of our intelligence on al-Sharif leading up to the strike.”
Important clarification on Anas al-Sharif ????
Prior to the strike, we obtained current intelligence indicating that Sharif was an active Hamas military wing operative at the time of his elimination. In addition, he received a salary from the Hamas terror group and terrorist…
— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) August 11, 2025
In October, the IDF said the documents it found in Gaza proved that Sharif headed a rocket-launching squad and was a member of an elite Nukhba Force company in Hamas’s East Jabalia Battalion.
The IDF has not commented on the affiliation of the five other journalists killed alongside Sharif in the strike.
The Times of Israel Community.