Following an Israeli airstrike targeting terrorists operating in a Hamas command and control center embedded within a school complex in Gaza City over the weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris said there are "far too many" civilian casualties in the Gaza war, the New York Post reported on Sunday.
Hamas said that the attack killed more than 90 people who were among displaced families sheltering in the school complex. But the IDF insisted that the strike killed at least 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists in the command and control center operating there.
Speaking at a campaign event in Phoenix, Harris said that Israel had a right to "go after Hamas" but also has "an important responsibility" to avoid civilian casualties, saying that "far too many" civilians had been killed "yet again."
The Israeli military rejected the Hamas claim of nearly 100 fatalities as "exaggerated," estimating that the strike actually killed 19 terrorists. The IDF, however, did not say how many civilians it believed died in the strike, according to the BBC.
But IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari did say that the casualty figures released by Hamas officials "do not align with the information held by the IDF, the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike."
The move was part of the Israeli army's campaign to root out Hamas terrorists following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel in which invading terrorists massacred some 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 others.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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