IDF Names Hamas Terrorists Killed in Strike on Gaza School

Latest Developments​

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released the names of nine Hamas terrorists targeted in an airstrike on a shuttered school in the central Gaza Strip on September 11, pushing back against claims that UN humanitarian aid workers were among the casualties.

In the aftermath of the strike, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) claimed that six of its staff were killed at the al-Jaouni School in Nuseirat, out of a total reported death toll of 18 Palestinians. Like other schools in Gaza, al-Jaouni has served as a camp for displaced persons, rather than an educational institution, since the war erupted. In a September 12 statement, the IDF publicly responded to UNRWA, saying it had repeatedly asked the agency for details on the slain staffers without receiving an answer. The IDF also published the names and roles of nine Hamas terrorists killed in the attack — three of whom, it said, had doubled as UNRWA staff.

The al-Jaouni School serves as the temporary home of 12,000 displaced Palestinians, most of them women and children, and has been hit five times during the Israel-Hamas war, according to UNRWA.

Expert Analysis

“With one statement, the IDF has both punctured UNRWA’s sham cover and — again — exposed the agency’s function as a humanitarian cover for Hamas.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“What threshold must Israel meet to convincingly demonstrate to the international community that terrorist organizations have infiltrated UNRWA? It is also deeply troubling that UNRWA officials persist in evading accountability while evidence of terrorist activities within their organization has repeatedly surfaced throughout the conflict. It has become evident that Israel has every justification in banning UNRWA from operating in the Gaza Strip.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal

IDF Announces That Hamas Rafah Brigade Is ‘Destroyed’

Israel announced on September 12 that Hamas’s Rafah Brigade had been dismantled, with at least 2,308 of its operatives killed by the IDF and over eight miles of tunnels destroyed.

IDF Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, the general in charge of the offensive in Rafah, told reporters that the “Rafah Brigade has been defeated … Their four battalions have been destroyed, and we have completed operational control over the entire urban area.”

Related Analysis

“Letter From Hamas Brigade Commander Sheds Light on Terror Group’s Demoralization,” FDD Flash Brief

“Israeli Defense Minister Says Hamas Destroyed as Organized Fighting Force,” FDD Flash Brief

“Israeli Strike Targets Top Hamas Commanders in Gaza,” FDD Flash Brief