Amid media-driven outrage, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed that the so-called Al Jazeera journalist, Anas Al-Sharif, who was eliminated in an Israeli strike on Sunday, was the chief of a terrorist cell in Gaza and was receiving a salary from Hamas.
“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 said in a statement Monday.
The slain terrorist was reportedly drawing a salary from both Hamas and the Qatari state-owned Al Jazeera TV network. Al-Sharif “received a salary from the Hamas terror group and terrorist supporters, Al-Jazeera, at the same time,” IDF International Spokesman, Lt. Colonel Nadav Shoshani, posted on X. “This information was obtained during ground operations in Gaza at two separate locations.”
The IDF spokesman called out the mainstream media for lionizing a known terrorist as a journalist. “Will the world honestly check before reporting? Will there be criticism of Hamas’ exploitation of the press? Will anyone criticize Al-Jazeera for employing terrorists?” he asked.
Israeli media outlets reported Al-Sharif’s status as a Hamas terrorist fighter, citing declassified Hamas documents. “He was certified as the team commander on January 1, 2019, according to the documents,” The Times of Israel reported Tuesday. “The documents also listed Sharif’s military ID number as 305342,” the news website added.”
Ahead of Sunday’s strike, the IDF established Al-Sharif’s affiliation with Hamas.
“The IDF had previously disclosed intelligence information and many documents found in the Gaza Strip, confirming his military affiliation to Hamas. The documents once again confirm his involvement in terrorist activities, from which the Al Jazeera network has attempted to disassociate itself,” the IDF said in a statement. “The documents include personnel rosters, lists of terrorist training courses, phone directories, and salary documents for the terrorist, and provide unequivocal proof that he serves as a military terrorist in Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”
Social media posts show Al-Sharif palling around with Hamas terrorists and celebrating the October 7 massacre.
The killing of another Hamas terrorist masquerading as a journalist triggered fake outrage across the mainstream media landscape.
The Washington Post ran the headline: “Israel kills journalist Anas al-Sharif…”
CNN described the Hamas terror cell chief as “the face of the war in Gaza for millions.”
“One of the most well-known Palestinian journalists in Gaza – and one of dozens to be killed by Israel during the war – Al-Sharif’s death has ignited international condemnation and calls for accountability,” the TV network added.
“Al-Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif was the best-known journalist in the Gaza Strip,” the leading German weekly Der Spiegel wrote. “The Israeli military labeled Sharif a terrorist and killed him in a drone strike. Observers see a pattern in this.”
French newspaper Le Monde described the known terrorist as “one of the most prominent journalists covering the conflict in Gaza.”
Israel-hating global institutions jumped on the bandwagon. “The United Nations, European Union and press freedom groups on Monday slammed an Israeli strike that killed six journalists, including five from Al Jazeera, in Gaza on Sunday,” the state-owned Franc24 reported Tuesday.
Despite classified documents released by the IDF, the French state broadcaster refused to acknowledge the facts. “Israel has offered no evidence to back its claims that one of the journalists was a Hamas militant,” France24 claimed.
Amid media frenzy, it’s worth remembering the role so-called ‘journalists’ played in mass killings and kidnappings on October 7, 2023. These Hamas-affiliated men invaded Israel in the guise of journalists and took hostages.
The Israeli news website Ynetnews reported Tuesday:
The killing reignited debate over ties between Hamas and Gaza-based journalists. Shlomi Ziv, a former hostage rescued in June 2024’s Operation Arnon alongside Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan and Andrey Kozlov, responded to a Sky News report on X, writing, “I was held by a journalist in captivity and his father was a Doctor!!!!!”
Active collaboration between Al Jazeera and Hamas has long been established, based on “intelligence information and numerous documents found in Gaza,” the IDF says in a report published on its website.
“The documents include personnel tables, lists of terrorist training courses, phone directories, and salary documents for terrorists. These provide unequivocal proof that these individuals serve as military operatives for the terrorist organizations in Gaza,” the IDF report adds.
The IDF observed that “Hamas directs Al Jazeera’s media coverage to serve its own interests, preventing the public in Gaza and around the world from discovering the truth about its crimes against Gazan civilians.”
In October 2024, the IDF, in a press release, revealed connections between the Gaza-based terrorist group and Qatar’s state-funded TV:
In a 2022 document, Hamas describes how it provided Al Jazeera with clear instructions on covering a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch in Jabaliya, which resulted in the deaths of several civilians. The instructions included avoiding the use of the word “massacre” to describe the event, reducing the display of images from the incident, and ensuring that panel members did not criticize Hamas.Another document from the same year reveals the instructions Hamas gave to journalist Tamer Almisshall regarding his coverage of the Islamic Jihad during Operation “Breaking Dawn” on his program “More Hidden than Revealed”. The instructions were to support the “resistance” in Gaza and to prevent any criticism of the Islamic Jihad’s rocket capabilities, in light of the high number of failed launches.A 2023 document shows that Hamas decided to establish an “Al Jazeera Phone”—a secure line that would allow the organization to communicate with the channel in a classified manner and during emergencies.
An Israeli investigation has exposed Hamas’ claims of ‘starvation’ in Gaza. The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry has been issuing false and inflated figures as part of “an orchestrated campaign as part of a broader effort to discredit the State of Israel and achieve political gains,” a detailed probe conducted by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) found.
Mainstream media have been prominently reporting fabricated Hamas figures and claims without caring to verify the facts. The Hamas lies fit perfectly with the media narrative that Israel’s military action against Hamas is the root cause of suffering in Gaza.
These news outlets ignore the fact that Hamas has been perpetuating misery and scarcity by looting humanitarian supplies and targeting the aid distribution network. Since late March 2024, nearly 90 percent of the aid trucks entering Gaza have been looted or hijacked by the Palestinian terrorists, the UN estimates show.
The newspaper Israel Hayom published the excerpts from the report:
An in depth investigation by the IDF, released Tuesday, has revealed evidence that Hamas has orchestrated a coordinated campaign aimed at discrediting Israel and achieving political gains, by amplifying claims of famine in the Gaza Strip.The probe found significant discrepancies between the number of deaths from malnutrition reported by the Gaza Health Ministry, run by Hamas, and the cases documented with full identities in media and on social networks.Beginning in July, during the ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations, the number of alleged malnutrition deaths reported by the Hamas Health Ministry rose sharply. By the end of June 2025, 66 Gaza residents had been reported dead from malnutrition since the start of the war, while in July alone Hamas claimed more than 133 deaths from the same cause.Despite the high July figures, Hamas did not release the victims’ names as it had in the past. For example, on July 19 it reported 18 malnutrition deaths and on July 22 another 15, yet social media monitoring found only a handful of documented cases. The gap between the statistical reports and named cases casts doubt on their credibility.A closer examination of the published cases showed that most victims had serious pre-existing medical conditions that worsened independently of nutrition levels. Some had even received treatment in Israel before the war. Officials concluded that these cases do not reflect the overall health situation in Gaza, but instead selectively highlight extreme cases involving chronic illness.One widely circulated case was that of Abdullah al-Hani Muhammad Abu Zarka, 4, whose photos were shared as evidence of famine. The IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories found he suffers from a genetic condition causing severe vitamin and mineral deficiencies, bone loss and osteoporosis, a hereditary illness also affecting other family members. Four months before the war, Israel approved his transfer, with his mother, for treatment at al-Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem.
The COGAT report comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday, slammed The New York Times for publishing a misleading image of a child who suffered from pre-existing health problems, claiming he was “diagnosed with severe malnutrition.” The NYT was forced to amend the article after the truth came to light.
The Israeli Prime Minister may sue the newspaper over false reporting. “Benjamin Netanyahu is considering legal action against The New York Times over a photograph of a malnourished child he has described as ‘fake’,” the British newspaper Telegraph reported. “The Israeli prime minister accused the newspaper of defaming Israel with its coverage of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
“A front-page photo of Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, an emaciated 18-month-old boy, sparked international outrage last month,” the UK daily added.
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