IDF Accuses Al Jazeera Journalist Anas Al-Sharif of Leading a Rocket Launching Squad and Being on Hamas' Payroll

Anas al-Sharif. (Twitter/@AnasAlSharif0)

JAKARTA - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has accused journalist Anas al-Sharif, who was killed in an airstrike on Sunday, of receiving a salary from Hamas, after documents previously indicated he led the militant group's rocket launchers.

The international community has condemned the Israeli airstrike that killed five Al Jazeera journalists, including Anas, in Gaza City on Sunday.

After accusing Anas of being an active Hamas member, the IDF also accused him of receiving a salary from the Palestinian militant group.

"Before the attack, we obtained current intelligence indicating that Sharif was an active operative of Hamas's military wing at the time of his elimination," IDF international spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on social media, as reported by The Times of Israel on August 12.

"Furthermore, he received a salary from the Hamas terror group and its terrorist supporter, Al-Jazeera, at the same time," Shoshani alleged.

An IDF spokesperson said the documents released by the army in October, which he said proved he was an active Hamas member, were "only a small, publicly released portion of our intelligence on al-Sharif leading up to the attack."

In October, the IDF said documents found in Gaza proved Anas led a rocket-launching squad and was a member of the elite Nukhba force company in Hamas's East Jabalia Battalion.

The IDF has not commented on the affiliations of the other journalists killed alongside Anas in Sunday's airstrike.

Al-Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif was killed along with four colleagues in a targeted Israeli attack on a tent housing journalists in Gaza City, according to Al-Jazeera.

Seven people were killed in the attack on the tent outside the main gate of Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital on Sunday night.

They included fellow Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and three cameramen: Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa.

Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza City attended the funeral of five Al Jazeera journalists killed in an Israeli airstrike outside al-Shifa Hospital.

A large crowd joined the funeral procession, carrying the journalists' bodies from al-Shifa Hospital to Sheikh Radwan Cemetery in central Gaza on Monday.

Colleagues, friends, and relatives embraced in mourning, while a man held a flak jacket emblazoned with the word "press" high above the crowd.