The IDF has not elaborated on how many of the five other journalists killed were terrorists, nor provided evidence to support the accusation.
Al Jazeera has said its correspondents Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, along with cameramen Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, were killed in the strike, as well as freelancers Moamen Aliwa and Mohammad al-Khaldi.
Israel claimed to have targeted Sharif in particular for his alleged collaboration with Hamas, with the IDF referring to him as “the head of a Hamas terrorist cell and advanced rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF troops” and sharing several documents which the military claim to be proof that Sharif was receiving a salary from the terror group.
On Monday the IDF said that “intelligence and documents from Gaza, including rosters, terrorist training lists and salary records, prove he was a Hamas operative integrated into Al Jazeera,” sharing a screenshot of the relevant documents, which IDF international spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said represented only a small portion of the military’s intelligence on Sharif.
The journalists’ deaths prompted international outcry. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the attack, pointing out that the deliberate targeting of journalists constitutes a war crime under international law.
