Over the past day, the IDF Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet confirmed the identities of eight additional terrorists who were eliminated in a precise strike on their base of operations in a UNRWA school in Nuseirat on Thursday morning. One of the eliminated terrorists took part in the October 7 attacks.
"[O]ur Air Force used precise munitions to target the three specific classrooms that the terrorists were hiding inside," Hagari said in English. "These are only a few of the terrorists we eliminated. There are more. Some of them took part in the brutal massacre of October 7. We are working to verify the information before we will share it."
Hagari emphasized that the terrorists were operating from the UNRWA school and that the strike was based on concrete intelligence from multiple sources, indicating imminent attacks against Israelis.
"We stopped a ticking time bomb," he said. "We delayed our strike twice because we identified civilians in the area. We had aerial surveillance that had been monitoring the Hamas compound for a few days. We conducted the strike once our intelligence and surveillance indicated that there were no women or children inside the Hamas compound, inside those classrooms."
Hagari criticized media outlets for falling for "Hamas' tactics," noting that leading news channels prominently featured Palestinian claims of civilian casualties. CNN and other media outlets reported that, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, controlled by Hamas, 45 Palestinians were killed in the strike.
"While Hamas abuses international law, the IDF will continue operating according to international law," Hagari asserted. Since the targeted strike the IDF has confirmed the identity of 17 terrorists that were operating from the school. The investigation is ongoing.