IDF international spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the journalist was an active operative of Hamas’s military wing.

He wrote on X: "Prior to the strike, we obtained current intelligence indicating that Sharif was an active Hamas military wing operative at the time of his elimination. In addition, he received a salary from the Hamas terror group and terrorist supporters, Al-Jazeera, at the same time."

He added: "What we have presented publicly is only a small, declassified portion of our intelligence on al-Sharif leading up to the strike. This information was obtained during ground operations in Gaza at two separate locations."

Six journalists, including Anas al-Sharif, were killed in the Israeli strike on Gaza recently, an episode that has triggered widespread reactions.

Documents published by the IDF in October showed that Sharif joined Hamas’s military wing on 3 December 2013, where he served as a commander of a rocket-launching squad in northern Gaza, The Times of Israel reported.

The documents also listed Sharif’s military ID number as 305342.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the killing of six Palestinian journalists in Gaza this past weekend, his spokesman said on Monday.

The reporters – five of whom worked for the Al Jazeera media network – were killed in a targeted Israeli strike in Gaza City the previous day.

“These latest killings highlight the extreme risks journalists continue to face when covering the ongoing war,” UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during his regular media briefing from New York. “The Secretary-General calls for an independent and impartial investigation into these latest killings.”