Maakav

"Since the beginning of the war, the terrorist organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been systematically exploiting the civilian population and infrastructure in Gaza for terrorist activities against the State of Israel".

According to various intelligence indicators, there is a high probability that the commander of the Central Camps Brigade of the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ashraf Joudah, was in the military headquarters at the 'Al-Taba'in' school that was attacked. It is not yet clear if he was injured in the attack.

Transcript:

"Since the beginning of the war, the terrorist organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been systematically exploiting the civilian population and infrastructure in Gaza for terrorist activities against the State of Israel.

They do this through a massive network of underground tunnels, passing beneath villages, hospitals, mosques, schools, and UN facilities, used by terrorists to command attacks, store weaponry, and hold Israeli hostages.

This includes hospitals throughout the Gaza Strip, which Hamas and Islamic Jihad have repeatedly infiltrated and used for military purposes, and in which terrorist tunnel shafts have been found.

In recent months, Hamas has focused on exploiting school buildings, often occupied by civilians, using them as military facilities, command and control centers, for weapons storage, and to carry out terrorist activities.

Over the past few weeks, our intelligence has closely monitored an active military facility of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, where about 24 Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives were operating. We have published today the names of 19 of the terrorists who operated in this compound.

We also have intelligence indicators that the terrorist Ashraf Joudah, commander of the Central Camps Brigade of Islamic Jihad, was in the compound.

This military facility was embedded within the 'Al-Taba'in' school building in Gaza City.

After receiving clear intelligence about the threat posed by the terrorists, and in accordance with international law, we took many steps to minimize the risk to civilians, including using aerial surveillance before the attack and choosing very precise munitions to prevent civilian casualties.

Earlier this morning, the IDF carried out a precise strike against the terrorists in one specific building in the compound, in an area where, according to our intelligence, no women and children were present.

In the video we released today, one can see that the compound is still intact, and there are no significant craters or damage to the main structure in the compound.

This pattern of systematic exploitation of schools for military activity by Hamas and Islamic Jihad endangers both Gazan civilians and Israeli civilians and should be condemned by the international community.

Following the strike, the Government Media Office in Gaza, managed by Hamas, published unverified casualty counts – which have since been shared worldwide.

These figures do not distinguish between terrorists and civilians and do not match the information in the IDF's possession.

Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7th massacre, when Hamas brutally slaughtered innocent Israelis and led to this war, and the man who was appointed last week as Hamas's 'political leader', himself declared that: 'A higher number of Gazan casualties serves Hamas's war objectives'.

Israel sees civilian casualties as a tragedy, while Hamas sees civilian casualties as a strategy.

The IDF will continue to operate in accordance with international law, aiming to dismantle Hamas's military capabilities and to bring home all 115 of our hostages – men, women, children, and elderly, who have been held in Gaza for over 300 days, under horrific conditions. We are working to create the conditions to bring them home.

We call on the international community to do everything in their power to realize this goal."

Photo: IDF