Hamas has moved its terrorist command and control centers into numerous schools in Gaza. Over the last two months, the IDF has carried out almost twenty airstrikes on these Hamas command centers. The decision by Hamas to exploit the former schools of Gaza comes after it also sought to embed itself in hospitals.
The Israel Defense Forces began a new operation in Gaza this week, directed at Hamas activity in Jabalya in northern Gaza. The operation is the latest attempt to uproot Hamas from areas in Gaza. The IDF is operating in other areas of northern Gaza and controls the Netzarim corridor south of Gaza City and also controls the Philadelphi corridor in southern Gaza.
In general, the IDF reduced its operations in Gaza to low intensity over the last several months. With the Hamas Rafah brigade defeated, the theory was that Hamas didn’t have a lot more organized units in Gaza.
However, where Hamas does have organized units, it has often set up command and control in schools. This may be a long-term tactic Hamas has used. However, it appears more pronounced in recent months. This may be due to the fact that Hamas now only feels secure in sites like schools because it thinks it can continue to hide behind civilians or exploit civilian infrastructure.
The group previously was active in many hospitals in Gaza. It has also sought to move its men into shelters that have been used in Gaza.
The Hamas use of schools as command centers has not been well documented, and it has not been systematically explained. However, the IDF produces daily reports on airstrikes and other operational activity in Gaza. By examining two months of these reports, it was possible to quantity some of the information and also draw conclusions.
What is known about Hamas and its recent use of schools in Gaza
Here is what is known about Hamas and its use of schools in Gaza during the last month and a half.
On September 1, the IDF carried out a strike on a Hamas “command and control center embedded inside the area that previously served as the Safad school in Gaza City.” The IDF said Hamas used this center to plan and carry out terror attacks against the IDF and the State of Israel.
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” it reported.
The IDF added that “the Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law and operates from within civilian infrastructure and shelters in the Gaza Strip, brutally exploiting the Gazan civilian population for its terrorist activities.”
In all the cases reviewed, the IDF used similar language regarding attempts to mitigate the risk of harming civilians and also noted that Hamas violates international law.
On September 7, the IDF struck another command and control center in the Halima al-Sa'diyya school in the northern Gaza Strip. In addition, the Israel Air Force struck terrorists who had set up shop inside what was previously the Amr Ibn al-As school in the northern Gaza Strip.
Four days later, another Hamas command and control center was found in a building that had been the Al Jaouni School in Nuseirat in central Gaza.
Nuseirat is one of the four urban areas of the central camps that Hamas continues to control. It is also where the IDF carried out in June rescuing four hostages.
The September 11 strike on this former school eliminated a number of key terrorists, including Aysar Karadia, a terrorist in Hamas brigades who also worked for Hamas internal security forces, and a number of Hamas members who the IDF accused of moonlighting at UNRWA employees.
For instance, the IDF said that Ayad Matar was a “terrorist in Hamas' Military Wing and simultaneously a UNRWA employee.”
On September 11, another strike hit Hamas members in the area of Al Furqan in Gaza City. They were operating adjacent to a former school.
The next day, the Israel Air Force also targeted the former Raazi El Shua School in Beit Hanoun.
Days later, on September 18, the IDF targeted a building that had been the Ibn Al-Haytam" School in Gaza City.
Three days later, another strike hit the Al Falah School in Gaza City, and soon after, another Hamas command center was found in the Kafr Qasem School in northern Gaza.
Throughout the rest of September, the IDF identified four more former schools used by Hamas as command and control centers. These included one in central Gaza called the Khaled ibn al-Walid School and three in northern Gaza: the al-Faluja, Umm al-Fahm, and Abu Ja’far Al Mansour School. The Hamas cells in these were each struck.
In the first week of October, the IDF appears to have found more Hamas command and control in schools and has increased the number of missions against these sites.
This includes a “command and control center, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served as the Shejaiya UNRWA School.”
In addition on October 2 the IDF targeted Hamas centers inside compounds that had been the Muscat and Rimal schools in northern Gaza. In central Gaza, Hamas used the Al-Bureij Preparatory School and also the Nuseirat Girls' School.
On October 5, the IDF targeted a building previously used as the Ahmad al-Kurd school in central Gaza. The next day, compounds that had previously been the Ibn Rushd school and Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque were also struck in Deir al-Balah. Another Hamas command and control center was found in the Khalifa bin Zayed School in the northern Gaza Strip.
More Hamas command centers were found on October 8, including terrorists embedded in the Shuja'iyya school in Daraj Tuffah.
The pattern of Hamas using schools in Gaza is clear. Most of the schools are in northern Gaza, and some in central Gaza.
This illustrates how Hamas has sought to lay low in northern Gaza as it rebuilds its forces. This is one reason the IDF is now operating with more intensity against Hamas in northern Gaza. Hamas uses schools in central Gaza as well, and it has more significant forces in central Gaza.
It appears Hamas has not been able to use as many schools in Khan Younis or southern Gaza, either because of previous IDF operations or because of the IDF's presence nearby.
Hamas clearly felt in northern Gaza that it could move into most of the former school buildings. These are former schools because many of the civilians have moved to the Mawasi humanitarian area in southern Gaza, and students are not in school due to the war.
Hamas has exploited other civilian institutions. On the eve of the IDF raid into Jabalya, the IDF said that “with the direction of IDF intelligence, the IAF conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating inside a command and control center in the area of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip. The command and control center, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served as a UNRWA center, was used by the Hamas terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel.”