Pro-Palestinian activist group files ICC complaint against IDF over killing of Hamas terrorist posing as journalist

IDF: Several other terrorists posing as journalists were killed alongside al-Sharif

The pro-Palestinian activist group Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has accused officers of the Israel Defense Forces of “war crimes” and “genocide” at the International Criminal Court (ICC), as part of its “hunt for Anas al-Sharif’s killers.”

Al-Sharif was killed by an Israeli airstrike earlier this week, with the IDF publishing information showing he had been serving as a squad leader in the terror organization Hamas, while simultaneously working for the Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera.

“He operated under the guise of an Al Jazeera journalist, served as a Hamas cell leader, and promoted rocket fire plans against Israeli civilians and IDF troops,” the IDF stated.

Four other “journalists” were also eliminated in the strikes, causing international outrage and criticism of Israel.

The IDF told The Times of Israel on Wednesday that at least some of the individuals killed alongside al-Sharif were also verified terrorists.

The HRF called the strike “a clear-cut criminal act – a war crime and part of a broader genocidal campaign,” stating that al-Sharif had been reporting from the “frontlines” and “armed only with a camera and a press vest” when he was killed.

🚨Breaking: #HindRajabFoundation & @pchrgaza file ICC complaint against those behind killing Anas Al-Sharif & colleagues:
Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar, Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asor, Gen. A (Unit 8200), Palmachim Airbase Cmdr, “Black Snake” Sq Cmdr & Col. Avichay Adraee.…
— The Hind Rajab Foundation (@HindRFoundation) August 12, 2025

Together with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), another anti-Israel activist group, the HRF filed complaints with the ICC against the chain of command it believes was responsible for the strike. The PCHR also cited the “meticulous documentation of other Al Jazeera journalists killed in Gaza – cases that fit the same pattern of premeditation and deliberate targeting.”

These include several other “journalists” like Hossam Shabat, Ismail al-Ghoul, Ahmed al-Louh, Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouh, and Samer Abu Daqqa, and others, who were “journalists marked by Israel as ‘terrorists’ before being eliminated in targeted strikes,” according to the activist groups.

The IDF has released information indicating that several of the journalists were active terror operatives with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

HRF named several high-ranking IDF officers in its complaints, claiming they deployed “operational patterns, signals intelligence reports, and expert military analysis” to identify the “chain of command behind the killing.”

The list of officers included IDF Chief Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, Israeli Air Force Director Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar, Southern Command OC Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asor and several intelligence officers.

The complaints also targeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Arabic Spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee, who was accused of perpetrating a “pattern of defamation justifying the killing of journalists.”

“Killing journalists is not an accident,” the complaint read. “It is a deliberate policy to silence independent voices. Local journalists are the last line of defense in the absence of foreign press in Gaza, and silencing them is a strategy to conceal war crimes.”

HRF is based in Brussels, Belgium, and is named after a six-year-old Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, who was killed in Gaza in January 2024.

The organization collaborates with anti-Israel lawyers in multiple countries to file lawsuits and complaints against Israeli soldiers, seeking their arrest in dozens of jurisdictions.

HRF is led by professional anti-Israel activists Dyab Abou Jahjah and Karim Hassoun, who are the group’s chair and secretary, respectively. The two individuals have deep ties to terror groups and share a long history of activism and public support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations.

According to The Jerusalem Post, a leaked Diaspora Ministry profile describes Beirut-born Jahjah as a “former Hezbollah operative.”