19 Hamas, Islamic Jihad terrorists killed in school mosque

The IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), in a joint operation on Saturday, conducted a precision strike on a Hamas command and control center embedded in a mosque in the Al-Taba’een school compound in Gaza City.

At least 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were killed, the military said.

Immediately after the attack, the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence organization claimed that more than 90 people died in the strike.

Vice President Kamala Harris, asked during an event in Phoenix for her reaction to the Israeli airstrike, told reporters later on Saturday that “there are far too many civilians who have been killed” in Gaza.

However, the IDF refuted the claim.

“The strike was carried out using three precise munitions, which, according to professional analysis, cannot cause the amount of damage that is being reported by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza. Furthermore, no severe damage was caused to the compound where the terrorists were situated,” the army said.

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of a small warhead, aerial surveillance, and intelligence information,” it added.

IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a video statement:

“After we received clear intelligence of the threat posed by these terrorists, and in accordance with international humanitarian law, we took numerous steps to mitigate the risk to civilians. The IDF conducted a precision strike against the terrorists in one specific building of the compound—an area where according to our intelligence, no women and children were present.”

Hagari also said intelligence indicated that there was a “high probability” the strike had killed the commander of Islamic Jihad’s Central Camps Brigade, Ashraf Juda.

“Increasingly in recent months, Hamas has focused on exploiting school buildings, often where civilians are sheltering inside, to use them as military facilities, command and control centers, for storing weapons, and to execute terrorist attacks,” said Hagari.

Source » clevelandjewishnews.com