Malak A Tantesh in Gaza and Lorenzo Tondo in Jerusalem
Mon 11 Aug 2025 07.39 EDT

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admitted carrying out the attack, claiming Sharif was the leader of a Hamas cell responsible for rocket attacks against Israel – an allegation that Al Jazeera and Sharif had previously dismissed as baseless.

It was the first time during the war that Israel’s military has swiftly claimed responsibility after a journalist was killed in a strike.