Israel Rebuffs Hamas Lie on Casualties in School Strike, IDs 19 Terrorists Killed

August 12, 2024

by: Joshua Spurlock

Monday, 12 August 2024 | Israel on Saturday killed at least 19 terrorists, and potentially an Islamic Jihad Brigade Commander as well, in a Hamas command center located inside a mosque in the Al-Taba’een school facility. After Hamas reported dozens of casualties and media groups repeated the numbers, Israel not only identified the 19 confirmed dead terrorists, they also provided layers of evidence that the Hamas death toll was a “lie”.

IDF [Israel Defense Forces] Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari posted a video to X (formerly Twitter) outlining a range of reasons why the “unverified Hamas casualty count” was invalid, stating the numbers “do not match the information held by the IDF.”

He said that Israel “took numerous steps to mitigate the risk to civilians.” These included aerial surveillance prior to the attack and using “very precise munitions to avoid civilian casualties” that he noted targeted “one specific building of the compound.”

“An area, that according to our intelligence, no women and children were present.”

Hagari also pointed to a video of the compound after the strike, noting “that the compound is still intact and that there is no significant cratering or damage to the main structure of the compound.”

The IDF feed on X further reported that the attack used “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.”

As IDF Spokesperson LT. Col. [lieutenant colonel] Nadav Shoshani posted to X: “‘A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.’ Yet again, Hamas runs to the press with fake numbers without mention of the terrorist infrastructure that was in the complex. Yet again, Hamas hides behind civilians.”

Israel’s eleven month long war with Hamas began after the Gaza terror group launched a mass massacre against Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 Israelis—mostly civilians—and kidnapping 251 others. In total, 115 hostages remain captive in Gaza. Since then, Hamas has repeatedly cited unverified casualty numbers, some of which have been quietly revised downward after the fact.

In the Al-Taba’een strike, Israeli intelligence had been closely monitoring the Hamas and Islamic Jihad facility in the school for weeks prior to the attack. Hagari said they have “intelligence indications” that Islamic Jihad Brigade Commander of the Central Camps Ashraf Juda was at the compound. Hagari said the attack occurred “after we received clear intelligence of the threat posed by these terrorists.”

The IDF X feed provided photographs and names for 19 terrorists confirmed in the strike, a deliberate approach that contrasted to the speed in which Hamas reported their casualty count.

John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at the United States military school West Point, posted to X commenting on the reports of the strike, “I have never seen a battle or war where casualty numbers can be known immediately after a strike. Not in hours, not in minutes. Also never seen a war where main stream media will immediately run numbers from local sources (aka Hamas) while saying they can’t verify the military statements. Despite the repeated examples of local sources (Hamas) providing wild numbers (Al-Ahli Hospital) or claiming no combatants were killed (hostage rescue).”

Hamas has also repeatedly used civilian locations for military purposes, including schools, United Nations facilities and hospitals. In the video, Hagari noted grimly that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has actually said that a higher Palestinian death count would help Hamas with its war goals.

Said Hagari, “Where Israel sees harm to civilians as a tragedy, Hamas sees harm to civilians as a strategy.”

The IDF spokesperson also reaffirmed Israel’s determination in the Gaza war. “The IDF will continue to operate in accordance with international humanitarian law, in order to dismantle Hamas military capabilities and in order to bring back home all our 115 hostages, men, women, children and the elderly, who are being held in captivity for over 300 days in horrific conditions.

“We are operating to create the conditions to bring them back home. We call on the international community to do everything they can to fulfill this goal.”

Posted on August 12, 2024

Source: (This article was originally published by the Middle East Update on August 11, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today.)

Photo Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit photographer/Wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia