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On Aug. 10, 2025, 5 Al Jazeera employees members, together with 28-year-old journalist Anas al-Sharif, have been killed in what the information community referred to as a “focused Israeli assault on a tent housing journalists in Gaza Metropolis.”
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The Israel Protection Forces and different folks on-line alleged al-Sharif was affiliated with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The IDF referred to as al-Sharif a “Hamas terrorist” who “posed as an Al Jazeera journalist.” The IDF did not present conclusive proof to assist its declare about al-Sharif and did not reply to a request for remark by the point of publication.
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Al Jazeera condemned the accusations of terrorist affiliations leveled towards al-Sharif and different journalists, calling them “fabricated.” Additionally, al-Sharif had recognized himself as a “journalist with no political affiliations.”
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As of this writing, Snopes was unable to search out ample proof to definitively verify or refute the declare that al-Sharif was affiliated with Hamas.
On Aug. 10, 2025, 5 Al Jazeera employees members, together with 28-year-old Anas al-Sharif, have been killed in what the information community referred to as a “focused Israeli assault on a tent housing journalists in Gaza Metropolis.”
In a press release shared on X (archived), Israel’s navy referred to as al-Sharif a “Hamas terrorist” and stated he “posed as an Al Jazeera journalist”:
Different folks on X additionally circulated the declare that al-Sharif was affiliated with Hamas, the militant group that governs the Gaza Strip.
For instance, on Aug. 11, one X person wrote (archived), “Palestinian sources confirmed that the ‘Al Jazeera journalist’ Anas Al-Sharif was a Hamas agent.” One other X person stated (archived), “They are saying Anas Al-Sharif was a journalist. Right here he’s with Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar. He was a terrorist. Do not allow them to idiot you.”
A number of Snopes readers searched our web site to test whether or not the declare that al-Sharif was affiliated with Hamas was true.
We have been unable to search out ample proof to definitively verify or refute the declare. Subsequently, we have left it unrated. Snopes contacted the IDF for additional remark, together with a request for proof supporting its declare that al-Sharif was affiliated with Hamas, and didn’t obtain a response by the point of publication.
Earlier, in October 2024, the IDF alleged (archived) that six Al Jazeera journalists, together with al-Sharif, have been “Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.” Al Jazeera condemned (archived) the accusations, calling them “fabricated.”
Lower than a month earlier than his demise, al-Sharif posted on X (archived) {that a} spokesperson for the Israeli navy had “launched a marketing campaign of threats and incitement towards me due to my work as a journalist with Al Jazeera.” He additionally recognized himself as “a journalist with no political affiliations.”
The nonprofit Committee to Defend Journalists and an professional with the United Nations additionally stated Israel has accused different journalists of being terrorists with out offering proof, and that such accusations have generally preceded focused killings.
Beneath is a abstract of what we at the moment know in regards to the allegations leveled at al-Sharif:
IDF claims lack definitive proof
In a submit (archived) shared on Oct. 23, 2024, the IDF alleged that six Al Jazeera journalists, together with al-Sharif, have been “uncovered as Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.” The IDF claimed it had “disclosed intelligence data and quite a few paperwork present in Gaza confirming navy affiliation” with Hamas and different “terrorist organizations.” These alleged paperwork included “personnel tables, lists of terrorist coaching programs, telephone directories and wage paperwork for terrorists,” the IDF stated.
The IDF added that the alleged paperwork served as “proof of the mixing of Hamas terrorists inside the Qatari Al Jazeera media community.”
Nonetheless, the IDF didn’t make clear the way it obtained the paperwork, nor did it present unbiased verification or additional proof of the journalists’ alleged affiliations. The IDF additionally didn’t launch any supporting supplies publicly alongside the declare.
In its August 2025 assertion (archived) about al-Sharif, the IDF reasserted its declare, writing that he was the “head of a Hamas terrorist cell and superior rocket assaults on Israeli civilians and IDF troops.” The IDF once more cited “intelligence and paperwork from Gaza,” together with rosters, terrorist coaching lists and wage data,” saying they “show” al-Sharif “was a Hamas operative built-in into Al Jazeera.”
The IDF submit included purported pictures exhibiting al-Sharif’s identify on a supposed record of Hamas operatives, in addition to an alleged damage monitoring doc and a telephone listing. Nonetheless, it stays unclear how the IDF obtained the alleged paperwork and the navy didn’t present additional proof of their authenticity.
Snopes contacted the IDF for additional remark and didn’t obtain a response by the point of publication.
Al Jazeera stated IDF claims are ‘baseless’
Al Jazeera Media Community beforehand condemned (archived) the IDF’s October 2024 accusations towards its journalists, calling them “baseless claims.”
In a press release launched on Oct. 23, 2024, Al Jazeera stated, partly, that it noticed the “fabricated accusations” towards its employees members “as a blatant try and silence the few remaining journalists within the area, thereby obscuring the cruel realities of the warfare from audiences worldwide.”
The assertion started as follows:
Al Jazeera Media Community vehemently condemns the latest unfounded allegations made by Israeli occupation forces towards its journalists working in northern Gaza. The Community views these fabricated accusations as a blatant try and silence the few remaining journalists within the area, thereby obscuring the cruel realities of the warfare from audiences worldwide.
These baseless claims observe Al Jazeera’s latest exposé of potential warfare crimes dedicated by Israeli forces throughout the ongoing warfare on Gaza. These journalists have been steadfastly reporting from northern Gaza, with Al Jazeera being the only real worldwide media presence documenting the unfolding humanitarian disaster ensuing from Israel’s siege and bombardment of civilian populations.
Al Jazeera categorically rejects the Israeli occupation forces’ portrayal of our journalists as terrorists and denounces their use of fabricated proof. The Community asserts that its journalists are merely fulfilling their skilled duties, documenting and reporting on the devastating affect of the warfare on the Strip’s two million civilians.
In a report on the August 2025 killings (archived), Al Jazeera quoted Muhammed Shehada, an analyst on the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, as saying there was “zero proof” al-Sharif took half in any hostilities.
“His whole day by day routine was standing in entrance of a digicam from morning to night,” Shehada informed Al Jazeera.
The BBC reported (archived) on Aug. 11, 2025, that it “understands Sharif did some work with a Hamas media workforce in Gaza earlier than the present battle,” however didn’t present further context. Snopes reached out to the BBC reporter who wrote the story for extra data and can replace this story if we obtain a response.
Al Jazeera and Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor had not responded to Snopes’ requests for additional remark by the point of publication.
CPJ beforehand referred to as for al-Sharif’s safety
The nonprofit Committee to Defend Journalists referred to as for (archived) al-Sharif’s safety lower than one month earlier than his demise.
“The Committee to Defend Journalists is gravely apprehensive in regards to the security of Al Jazeera Arabic’s Gaza correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who’s being focused by an Israeli navy smear marketing campaign, which he believes is a precursor to his assassination,” the nonprofit wrote in a press release on July 24, 2025.
The CPJ particularly cited IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee‘s “on-line assaults on al-Sharif” that it stated falsely alleged he was a Hamas terrorist. In a single submit (archived) shared on July 23, 2025, Adraee alleged al-Sharif was a part of “Hamas’s navy machine.”
Al-Sharif informed the CPJ:
Adraee’s marketing campaign is just not solely a media menace or a picture destruction; it’s a real-life menace. All of that is taking place as a result of my protection of the crimes of the Israeli occupation within the Gaza Strip harms them and damages their picture on the planet. They accuse me of being a terrorist as a result of the occupation desires to assassinate me morally.
Al-Sharif added that his household was “in peril.” In December 2023, an Israeli airstrike killed his 90-year-old father weeks after al-Sharif had obtained “a number of phone threats from Israeli military officers instructing him to stop protection and go away northern Gaza,” the CPJ reported.
In an X submit (archived) on July 23, 2025, al-Sharif referred to as consideration to the “marketing campaign of threats and incitement” towards him and described himself as a “journalist with no political affiliations.” He wrote:
Vital – Please share and tag all press freedom and human rights organizations
As soon as once more, the Israeli military spokesperson has launched a marketing campaign of threats and incitement towards me due to my work as a journalist with Al Jazeera.
I reaffirm: I, Anas Al-Sharif, am a journalist with no political affiliations. My solely mission is to report the reality from the bottom — as it’s, with out bias.
At a time when a lethal famine is ravaging Gaza, talking the reality has turn out to be, within the eyes of the occupation, a menace.
Sample of Israel figuring out journalists as terrorists?
Based on the CPJ and a United Nations professional, Israel has repeatedly accused Palestinian journalists of being terrorists or supporters of Hamas with out proof to again its claims. In some circumstances, these accusations have preceded focused killings, the CPJ and UN professional stated.
“Israel has a long-standing documented sample of accusing journalists of being terrorists with out offering any credible proof,” the CPJ stated in a press release (archived) on Aug. 10, 2025.
This alleged sample of accusing journalists of being terrorists with out credible proof started earlier than the beginning of the continuing warfare in Gaza, CPJ program director Carlos Martínez de la Serna stated in August 2024 (archived). A 2023 CPJ report “detailed examples of 5 unsubstantiated claims of terrorism or militant exercise towards journalists killed by Israeli forces between 2004 and 2018,” the nonprofit stated.
Within the August 2024 assertion, the CPJ included a number of examples of journalists killed by Israeli forces who have been labeled “members or suspected members of militant organizations.”
For instance, on July 31, 2024, an Israeli air assault killed Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi, Al Jazeera reported (archived).
Based on the CPJ, the IDF alleged that al-Ghoul was an “engineer within the Hamas Gaza Brigade and a member of Hamas’s Nukhba particular forces who had taken half within the lethal Hamas October 7 raid that began the Israel-Gaza warfare.”
The IDF revealed a doc that it stated was a report of Hamas’ navy exercise from 2021 found on a pc as proof of its accusations, the CPJ reported.
Al Jazeera rebutted the accusations leveled at al-Ghoul in a assertion (archived) on Aug. 1, 2024. The community wrote, partly:
The Community condemns the accusations towards its correspondent, Ismail Al Ghoul, with out offering any proof, documentation or video, and highlights Israel’s lengthy historical past of fabrications and false proof used to cowl up its heinous crimes, whereas additionally denying journalists from world wide entry to the Gaza Strip to report on the deteriorating humanitarian situations and the struggling of Palestinians in Gaza.
In a July 2025 information launch (archived), Irene Khan, the UN particular rapporteur on freedom of expression, additionally expressed issues in regards to the Israeli navy accusing al-Sharif and different Palestinian journalists of being terrorists or Hamas supporters “with none proof to again its claims.”
Khan stated, partly:
I’m deeply alarmed by repeated threats and accusations of the Israeli military towards Anas Al-Sharif, the final surviving journalist of Al Jazeera in northern Gaza.
Fears for Al-Sharif’s security are well-founded as there’s rising proof that journalists in Gaza have been focused and killed by the Israeli military on the idea of unsubstantiated claims that they have been Hamas terrorists.
For the reason that begin of the continuing warfare in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, 192 journalists have been killed, in accordance with the CPJ. The nonprofit added that “at the least 184 of these journalists have been Palestinians killed by Israel.”
The newest assault on Aug. 10, 2025, raised the variety of Al Jazeera journalists killed by Israel throughout the warfare to 11, along with eight freelance journalists affiliated with the outlet, in accordance with CPJ knowledge.
Sources:
“Al Jazeera Condemns Israeli Accusations in direction of Its Journalists in Gaza and Warns towards Being a Justification for Focusing on Them | al Jazeera Media Community.” Al Jazeera Media Community, 23 Oct. 2024, community.aljazeera.web/en/press-releases/al-jazeera-condemns-israeli-accusations-towards-its-journalists-gaza-and-warns. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
Al Jazeera Workers. “Anas Al-Sharif amongst 5 al Jazeera Workers Killed by Israel in Gaza.” Al Jazeera, 10 Aug. 2025, www.aljazeera.com/information/2025/8/10/al-jazeera-journalist-anas-al-sharif-killed-in-israeli-attack-in-gaza-city. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
Comerford, Ruth. “UN Condemns Focused Israeli Assault That Killed 5 al Jazeera Journalists.” BBC, 11 Aug. 2025, www.bbc.com/information/articles/cq688qz3rlro. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
CPJ Workers. “CPJ Requires Anas Al-Sharif’s Safety in Face of Israeli Smears – Committee to Defend Journalists.” Committee to Defend Journalists, 24 July 2025, cpj.org/2025/07/cpj-calls-for-anas-al-sharifs-protection-in-face-of-israeli-smears/. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
“Israel Kills al Jazeera Journalists in Focused Gaza Metropolis Airstrike – Committee to Defend Journalists.” Committee to Defend Journalists, 10 Aug. 2025, cpj.org/2025/08/israel-kills-al-jazeera-journalists-in-targeted-gaza-city-airstrike/. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
“CPJ Denounces Israel’s Smearing of Killed Palestinian Journalists with Unsubstantiated ‘Terrorist’ Labels – Committee to Defend Journalists.” Committee to Defend Journalists, 14 Aug. 2024, cpj.org/2024/08/cpj-denounces-israels-smearing-of-killed-palestinian-journalists-with-unsubstantiated-terrorist-labels/. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
CPJ. “Lethal Sample: 20 Journalists Died by Israeli Navy Fireplace in 22 Years. No One Has Been Held Accountable.” Committee to Defend Journalists, 9 Could 2023, cpj.org/experiences/2023/05/deadly-pattern-20-journalists-died-by-israeli-military-fire-in-22-years-no-one-has-been-held-accountable/. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
“Al Jazeera Journalist, Cameraman Killed in Israeli Assault on Gaza.” Al Jazeera, 31 July 2024, www.aljazeera.com/information/2024/7/31/al-jazeera-journalist-cameraman-killed-in-gaza-attack. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
“Al Jazeera Refutes Fabricated Israeli Accusations towards Its Journalist Ismail al Ghoul | al Jazeera Media Community.” Al Jazeera Media Community, 1 Aug. 2024, community.aljazeera.web/en/press-releases/al-jazeera-refutes-fabricated-israeli-accusations-against-its-journalist-ismail-al. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
“Gaza: UN Professional Denounces Critical Threats by Israeli Military towards al Jazeera Correspondent.” OHCHR, 31 July 2025, www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/07/gaza-un-expert-denounces-serious-threats-israeli-army-against-al-jazeera. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
