IDF proves terrorists were killed in UN school, CNN sides with Hamas version

The IDF operation was launched to eliminate 20-30 terrorists, some of whom took part in the October 7th massacre.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The IDF has identified 9 terrorists of possibly dozens who were killed in a targeted overnight operation on Thursday at a UNRWA school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza.

The operation was launched to eliminate 20-30 terrorists, some of whom took part in the October 7th massacre.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari on Thursday night said the operation “stopped a ticking time bomb” since the army was acting on “concrete intelligence from multiple sources the terrorists inside the school were planning more attacks against Israelis.”

The nine terrorists who have been identified so far are Matzav Hafat Daryush, Rashid Bavli, Salim Afash, Abd al-ati Masmach, Ahmad Tzalach Mansour, Ali Hasin Bana, Mohammed Barham, Mahmoud Machtasav, and Ahmad Hatib.

The IDF said it would continue to identify the names of terrorists killed in the operation as more details come to light to demonstrate that those who were killed were terrorists and not civilians.

The IDF took measures to try to avoid civilian casualties, including putting off the operation twice to prevent the deaths of women and children and non-combatant civilians.

“The terrorists were operating from this UN school,” he added, “planning and conducting attacks from inside classrooms.”

Hagari noted that this was the fifth time the IDF has had to fight Hamas terrorists who embedded themselves in UNRWA facilities.

He criticized news outlets that merely reported that Israel attacked a school without describing how Hamas operates from schools and hospitals in clear violation of international law.

Initial reports from CNN focused heavily on accounts and figures of “civilian casualties” from Hamas-run media, which it referred to as “The Gaza government” in updates shortly after the incident.

According to UNRWA, 35-45 Palestinians were killed, and Hamas media claimed that 14 children and 9 women were killed and 74 others were wounded.

Although CNN interviewed Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, who said he “wasn’t aware of civilian casualties” and that Israel used a “precision and intelligence-based” strike to target terrorists, a skeptical disclaimer was added.

At the end of the article, the CNN journalist wrote of Lerner, “The spokesperson did not provide evidence for his claims.”

However, CNN reporting of unverified figures given by Hamas and terror-supporting UNRWA did not include any such disclaimer.