The Hamas terrorist organization denied on Tuesday that any terrorists were among those eliminated in an IDF counter-terrorism operation at Gaza's Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on Monday, Reuters reported.
Foreign reports had claimed that the Israeli airstrike hit the fourth floor of the Gazan hospital, killing at least 15 people. AFP reported that the dead included four journalists and one civil defense member.
The IDF confirmed later that its troops carried out a strike in the area of Nasser Hospital, adding that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir had ordered an initial inquiry into the possible deaths of civilians.
"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such," said a statement from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. "The IDF acts to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals as much as possible while maintaining the safety of IDF troops."
On Tuesday, the IDF released the findings of an initial inquiry into the strike on Nasser Hospital. The inquiry confirmed that six individuals who were eliminated in the operation were terrorists, including one who participated in the October 7th infiltration into Israeli territory. Zamir expressed regret over any civilian casualties.
But the Hamas government's media office, a propaganda arm of the terrorist group, issued a statement claiming that one of the six dead that Israel alleged were terrorists was killed in al-Mawasi, a significant distance from the hospital. The statement further claimed another was killed elsewhere at a different time.
The Hamas statement did not clarify whether the two individuals it claimed were killed elsewhere were also civilians, leaving open the strong possibility they were in fact terrorists who were part of the broader confrontation.
Hamas continues to exploit civilian locations like hospitals, schools, and mosques to launch attacks and store weapons, using the people of Gaza as human shields.
In previous strikes, journalists and even doctors were found to be affiliated with the Hamas terror group, and in some cases even involved in the October 7th massacre, kidnapping or abusing Israeli hostages.