(HorizonPost.com) – The Israel Defense Forces conducted an airstrike on a Hamas compound that was hidden inside a UNRWA-run school in central Gaza in the early hours of last Thursday.
According to IDF officials, precautions were taken to reduce the risk of civilian deaths in what they described as a “precise strike” on the Hamas compound embedded in a Nuseirat school run by the UNRWA, the UN agency that provides relief to Palestinian refugees.
Between 20 and 30 terrorists, some of whom were involved in the October 7 terrorist attacks, were reportedly gathered in the compound and were using displaced civilians sheltering at the school as human shields.
The IDF said terrorist fighters from both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were in three classrooms apart from where the civilians were staying.
The Hamas-run media office accused the IDF of killing at least 27 people in what it claimed was a “massacre.”
In a press briefing last Thursday evening, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at least nine terrorist fighters were killed in the precision strike, including some who “participated in the massacre on October 7.”
Hagari reiterated that the IDF would continue to pursue anyone involved in the October 7 attacks.
According to the IDF, the compound within the Nuseirat school was being used by members of Nukhba, Hamas’ elite force that took part in the October 7 attacks. The group used the school to direct the attacks while “exploiting it as a civilian location and as a shelter.”
In a post on X, the IDF listed the names of the nine terrorists eliminated in Thursday’s precision strike.
Military officials said that to minimize casualties among “uninvolved people,” the IDF took “many steps,” including using “precise intelligence” and “analyzing aerial footage.” The strike was twice postponed as the IDF made additional adjustments to avoid civilian casualties.
Hamas routinely uses civilian infrastructure inside Gaza, including hospitals, schools, and UN offices. It also operates from areas used by sheltering civilians to create human shields to protect its fighters.
Around a dozen employees with the UNRWA were accused of taking part in the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.
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