The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Sunday that they hit a tall building in Gaza City. They said Hamas was using it to gather information and keep an eye on IDF military movements. The airstrike is the most recent in a string of targeted attacks against what the IDF says are military equipment hidden in civilian buildings.
The IDF said in a statement that “Hamas terrorists planted intelligence-gathering tools and set up observation posts to keep an eye on the location of IDF troops… to make terrorist attacks easier.” The army further said that militant groups in Gaza were “systematically breaking international law” and “brutally using civilian infrastructure and the Gazan population as human shields.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Monday that the strike killed five people, including a lady and two children. However, these numbers could change. The ministry hasn’t yet confirmed who the dead people were or what groups they were a part of. Hamas has called the bombing an attack on “innocent civilians” and refuted the IDF’s accusations, saying that the facility was a place for living and working.
The world has had a mixed reaction. The United Nations has asked for an immediate impartial investigation into what happened. Several Western countries have supported Israel’s right to defend itself and asked the IDF to do whatever it can to safeguard civilians. The Arab League and a number of human rights groups have spoken out against the strike, saying it breaks international humanitarian law.