The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a powerful and precisely coordinated wave of airstrikes in Gaza overnight, targeting terrorist operatives entrenched in the Jabaliya area. According to Palestinian media, at least 13 individuals were killed—most of whom were linked to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
In an official statement, the IDF confirmed the operation targeted strategic terror infrastructure, including a former police station in Jabaliya repurposed by militants as a command center for orchestrating attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. The military emphasized its commitment to minimizing civilian harm, noting that “many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weapons, aerial strikes, and additional intelligence.”
While the IDF continues to prioritize operational accuracy and transparency—often releasing video documentation and post-strike assessments—Palestinian and sympathetic international outlets continue to prematurely propagate casualty claims without verification. “The terror organizations systematically violate international law while taking over civilian infrastructure, and while brutally exploiting the civilian population as a human shield for its terror attacks,” the IDF statement added.
Misinformation and Human Shields
The IDF’s statements follow continued frustration with how terror groups embed themselves within schools, hospitals, and refugee centers, endangering civilians and fabricating outrage when Israel is forced to neutralize such threats. Palestinian reports often ignore the context of these sites being converted into tactical hubs by Hamas, instead painting a narrative of indiscriminate Israeli aggression.
In response to IDF evacuation warnings, which urged residents in Jabaliya and surrounding areas to move to humanitarian-designated zones in southern Gaza, Palestinian and UN figures claim “there is no safe place” in the enclave. However, Israel has repeatedly worked to open humanitarian corridors and, when it was allowing it, coordinate aid distribution through Egypt and other intermediaries. Israel stopped the aid after it was revealed that Hamas was hijacking the goods and selling them in order to sustain their operations - oftentimes brutally attacking Palestinians who were trying to take the aid for their families as was the international agency's intention.
A short while ago, the IDF and ISA struck terrorists who were operating in a Hamas and Islamic Jihad command and control center in the area of Jabaliya.
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) April 24, 2025
The command and control center was used by the terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and…
UNRWA and the Erosion of Credibility
The strikes come amid heightened tension between Israel and the United Nations, particularly over the role of UNRWA. UN Secretary General António Guterres recently criticized Israeli draft legislation aimed at banning the agency’s activities in Gaza and other territories. Notably, Guterres has remained silent on growing evidence implicating UNRWA in facilitating Hamas operations—ranging from storing weapons in their facilities to operating indoctrination camps for children.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini, once again, issued another dire statement claiming that Gazans are on the brink of a “man-made famine.” This latest assertion follows a pattern of inflammatory rhetoric that fails to align with visible realities. Social media platforms are flooded with recent footage of functioning markets, restaurants, and street vendors in Gaza—hardly scenes of mass starvation. Since October 7th, 2023 before Israel even put a soldier on the ground after Hamas's brutal assault on Israel, Lazzarini’s repeated alarmism would suggest Gaza had already collapsed months ago.
In stark contrast to his condemnations of Israel, Lazzarini has offered no remarks about the verifiable ethnic cleansing and systemic repression of the Uyghur population in China—where concentration camps, forced sterilizations, and religious erasure have become state policy.
.@UNLazzarini is a known liar who runs the terrorist organization @UNRWA. Lazzarini needs to be in front of a war tribunal. Abolish the UN. @UNRWA is Hamas. https://t.co/FPZiHAriUX pic.twitter.com/2dYMLqIe75
— RustyMAGA (@lou1_sissy) April 17, 2025
The Bigger Picture
As Israel continues its systematic campaign to dismantle Hamas’s terror infrastructure, international double standards are once again in the spotlight. Critics who accuse Israel of “genocide” ignore both the legal definition and the reality on the ground: Gaza’s population has grown since October 7, 2023, and Israel remains one of the only nations that actively warns civilians before military operations.
The war in Gaza, now well into its second year, is not just a battle of arms but of narratives. With every strike, Israel not only counters terror but also challenges the global distortion of truth that shields it.
