Israeli Target List for Gaza School Included Deceased Civilians: Rights Group

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor announced on Sunday that a list provided by the Israeli military of alleged targets at Al-Tabin School in Gaza City included people who had been killed in earlier attacks.

At least 100 people were massacred, and several others were injured on Saturday when Israeli airstrikes hit Palestinians during dawn prayers at the school in the Al-Daraj neighborhood.

The Israeli military claimed the strike killed 19 fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but both groups denied this claim.

In a statement, Euro-Med, a nonprofit organization based in Switzerland, indicated that its preliminary investigation found that "the Israeli army used names of Palestinians killed in Israeli raids—some of whom were killed in earlier raids—in its list, and took their photos from the Israeli-controlled civil registry."

The organization stated, "Following the initial review, it was discovered that three of the 19 names listed by the Israeli army as 'terrorists who were eliminated' in the Al-Tabin School massacre had already been killed in earlier Israeli bombing attacks."

The victims included “Ahmed Ihab al-Jaabari, who was killed on December 5, 2023, Youssef al-Wadiyya, who was targeted by the Israeli military two days prior to the massacre, and Montaser Daher, who was killed on Friday in a residential flat with his sister, one day prior to the massacre.”

According to Euro-Med, “three elderly civilians who had no connection to military action were also among the victims, including a school principal, Abdul Aziz Misbah Al-Kafarna, the deputy mayor of Beit Hanoun, and an academic and Arabic language teacher, Yousef Kahlout, as well as six civilians, some of whom were even Hamas opponents.”

Despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced widespread international condemnation for its ongoing genocidal offensive on Gaza that began on October 7, 2023.

The ongoing Israeli assault has resulted in the deaths of nearly 39,800 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,000 others, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 months into the Israeli war, much of Gaza lies in ruins under a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel has been accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has ordered an immediate halt to its military operations in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.