IDF names 9 Hamas operatives killed in Nuseirat school strike, including 3 UNRWA staffers

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

After UNRWA said six staffers were killed in an IDF strike yesterday on a school in the central Gaza Strip, the military names nine Hamas operatives killed in the attack, including some who were also employed by the UN Palestinian refugee agency.

The IDF had said yesterday that it struck a Hamas command room in the Al-Jaouni School in Nuseirat, and took steps to mitigate civilian harm. Hospital officials in Gaza reported 14 dead, and UNRWA later said six were members of the agency.

The military says that “upon receiving the allegation that local Palestinian workers of the UNRWA agency were killed in the strike, the IDF contacted the agency yesterday for details and names in order to examine the allegation in-depth and as of this writing it has not yet been answered despite repeated requests.”

So far, the IDF says it has identified nine Hamas operatives killed in the strike, three of whom were also UNRWA staffers.

They are named by the IDF as:

  • Ayser Qardaya, a member of Hamas’s internal security force
  • Muhammad Adnan Abu Zaid, a members of Hamas’s military wing who launched mortars at troops, and a UNRWA staffer
  • Bassem Majed Shahin, the commander of a Hamas military wing cell, who participated in the October 7 onslaught
  • Omar al-Judaili, a member of Hamas’s military wing and internal security force
  • Akram Saber al-Ghalidi, a member of Hamas’s military wing and internal security force
  • Muhammad Issa Abu al-Amir, a member of Hamas’s military wing who participated in the October 7 onslaught
  • Sharif Salam, a member of Hamas’s military wing
  • Yasser Ibrahim Abu Sharar, a member of Hamas’s military wing and emergency committee in Nuseirat, as well as a UNRWA staffer
  • Iyad Matar, a member of Hamas’s military wing and a UNRWA staffer

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