The IDF on Monday named 12 more terrorists who it says were killed in its air strike on the Al-Taabin school complex in the Daraj-Tuffah area of northern Gaza on Saturday, raising the total number to 31.
Initially, the IDF said that it could name at least 19 of 24 terrorists that it said it had killed and had known from its intelligence collection sources were for sure in the location.Eventually, it added that it had probably killed Islamic Jihad's brigade commander for central Gaza, and disputed Hamas’s claims that the air strike killed over 90 civilians.
Civilian casualty numbers haven't been addressed
However, the IDF has not addressed how many civilians may have been killed, only saying that it was unlikely its three precise smaller bombs would have been able to kill that many people.At the same time, on Sunday, the Jerusalem Post confronted the IDF with claims made by Palestinian West Bank parliament member Mustafa Barghouti. He said that two of the terrorists the IDF said it killed had actually been killed elsewhere, and that other alleged terrorists listed were minors.
TThe IDF said it did not yet have information to address those claims, while still maintaining a general denial of any wrongdoing.Earlier, IDF Lt.-Col. Nadav Shoshani said that Hamas and Islamic Jihad were actively using the school and a nearby mosque to plan attacks against soldiers.However, the military said it had known that the civilians were being sheltered nearby, which was why it used smaller, more precise bombs for the strike.The IDF had published a video showing that the compound was still intact. Nevertheless, footage posted to social media showed chaotic scenes and numerous bodies of women and children.Condemnation of the air strike came from across the world, despite Israel’s explanations; the US said it was very concerned, but would await an Israeli investigation.