Jerusalem, 11 August, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel announced overnight it killed a Hamas terrorist also employed by Al Jazeera in a Gaza City airstrike. Eliminated in the strike was Anas al-Sharif, who headed a cell responsible for firing guided rockets, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“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.
Also killed in the strike were Mohammed Qreiqea, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, who were also employed by Al Jazeera.
Sharif was one of six journalists identified as Hamas terrorists in documents seized by Israeli troops and released in March.
The documents include personnel rosters, lists of terrorist training courses, phone directories, and salary documents. According to the Hamas documents, Sharif enlisted with Hamas in December 3, 2013 and was serving in the terror group’s Northern Brigade in a rocket company.
An injury-tracking document noted that Al-Sharif suffered “severe hearing loss in the left ear” and “vision impairment in the left eye” from an explosion while training in 2017.
The other five Al Jazeera staffers exposed as Hamas terrorists were Ala’ Salama, Hossam Shabat, Ashraf al Sarraj, Ismail Abu Amr, and Talal al-Arrouqi.
Other files seized in Gaza showed how Al Jazeera collaborated with Hamas, taking directions for covering specific incidents and establishing a secure hotline enabling the terror group to directly communicate with Al Jazeera during emergencies.
Israel moved to shut down Al-Jazeera’s operations in May, revoking the Qatari network’s press credentials, confiscating transmitters and blocking its websites. The shutdown is not permanent but is subject to renewal every 90 days.
Efforts to ban Al Jazeera gained momentum in February after reporter Mohamed Washah was exposed as a Hamas commander. Soldiers recovered his laptop in northern Gaza and discovered that he played a prominent role in the terror group’s anti-armor missile systems.
Files seized and released by the IDF in August also confirmed that Al Jazeera reporter Ismail al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas. The file, dated 2021 and containing information about thousands of other Hamas terrorists, identified him as an engineer in Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade.
In October, Al Jazeera was accused of endangering Israeli soldiers by exposing details of where forces were assembling, prompting the Cabinet to approve emergency regulations to temporarily shut down Al Jazeera operations in Israel.
The Tel Aviv District Court in July accepted the state’s request to ban the Qatari network, saying its broadcasts were “a real violation of state security.”
Approximately 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 50 remaining hostages, around 30 are believed to be dead.
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