The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded Thursday to criticism from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), releasing the names of three UNRWA employees who were also allegedly Hamas terrorists killed in an airstrike.
On Wednesday, UNRWA slammed Israel for an airstrike on a “school” in which the agency said six of its employees had been killed.
Israel said it had targeted Hamas terrorists who had used the facility, unlawfully, as a base of operations.
On Thursday, the IDF released a list of the Hamas terrorists who were killed — including three alleged UNRWA employees:
Yesterday (Wednesday), with the direction of IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF conducted a precise strike on terrorists who were operating inside a command and control center embedded within a compound that previously served as the Al Jaouni School in the area of Nuseirat in central Gaza.
Upon receiving reports claiming that local Palestinian UNRWA workers were killed as a result of the strike, the IDF requested that the agency provide details and names of the workers, in order to thoroughly review the claim. To date, no answers have been provided by UNRWA despite repeated requests.
Thus far, a number of Hamas terrorists were confirmed to have been eliminated in the strike, including:
1. Aysar Karadia, a terrorist in Hamas’ Military Wing and Internal Security Forces.
2. Muhammad Adnan Abu Zayd, a terrorist in Hamas’ Military Wing who was responsible for launching mortars at IDF troops and the State of Israel, previously served as an operative in Hamas’ naval forces, and was simultaneously an UNRWA employee.
3. Bassem Majed Shaheen, the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas’ Military Wing who took part in the October 7th Massacre in southern Israel.
4. Amar al-Jadili, a terrorist in Hamas’ Military Wing and Internal Security Forces.
5. Akram Saber al-Ghalaydi, a terrorist in Hamas’ Military Wing and Internal Security Forces.
6. Muhammad Issa Abu al-Amir, a terrorist in Hamas’ Military Wing who took part in the October 7th Massacre in southern Israel.
7. Sharif Salam, a terrorist in Hamas’ Military Wing.
8. Yasser Ibrahim Abu Sharar, a terrorist in Hamas’ Military Wing and an operative in Hamas’ emergency bureau in Nuseirat, who was simultaneously an UNRWA employee.
9. Ayad Matar, a terrorist in Hamas’ Military Wing and simultaneously an UNRWA employee.
The United Nations admitted last month that nine UNRWA employees may have participated in the Hamas terror attack on October 7. UNRWA has also been faulted for indoctrinating Palestinians to hate Israel and Jews, and to anticipate a “return” to Israel that would involve Israel’s destruction.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer added in a briefing with reporters on Thursday that UNRWA, established to help Palestinians, was terrible at its job: “They are useless at aid distribution; they are useless at education; they have no place in postwar Gaza.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.