The real war crime: Turning classrooms into command centers

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on Monday that a strike in Gaza targeted senior operatives from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who were reportedly operating from a command center concealed within a school building.

According to the Palestinian civil defense, which is controlled by Hamas, the strike resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people. The incident has once again exposed a persistent and deeply complex challenge in urban warfare: the exploitation of civilian infrastructure by terrorist organizations.

The use of schools, hospitals, clinics, and even United Nations buildings by Hamas and Islamic Jihad as shields for military operations is not a new phenomenon.

These militant groups systematically embed their command centers, weapon caches, and tunnel entrances within civilian areas — not only to protect themselves from Israeli retaliation, but also to exploit civilian casualties for propaganda purposes.

This strategic blending of civilian and combatant spaces presents the IDF with an impossible calculus. 

While international law calls for the protection of civilian infrastructure, it also recognizes that when such sites are used for military operations, they lose their protected status. The reality on the ground, however, is far more difficult to navigate in real time.

Israeli military spokespersons have repeatedly highlighted how Hamas uses human shields — often placing military installations inside densely populated areas, including residential buildings and schools. 

These tactics not only increase the risk to civilians but also serve to manipulate international public opinion when strikes lead to civilian casualties, regardless of the underlying military necessity.

Command Centers Masquerading as Classrooms

In the case of Monday’s strike, the IDF stated that the school was no longer functioning as an educational institution and had been turned into a base for coordinating terror attacks. 

Still, the visual narrative of a bombed school inevitably fuels global outrage, often omitting the critical context of its militarization by terror factions.

Israel’s challenge is not simply military — it is also moral and strategic. 

The army must balance its obligation to protect its own civilians from rocket attacks and hostage threats with the duty to minimize harm to Palestinian noncombatants, even when the enemy intentionally blurs the line between the two.

As long as Hamas and its affiliates continue to weaponize civilian spaces, the risk of collateral damage will remain high. This is not due to Israeli disregard for human life — but rather the calculated cruelty of terror groups that turn every hospital and classroom into a potential battlefield.

The world must recognize this tactic for what it is: a violation of the laws of war and a deliberate attempt to use civilian suffering as a political weapon. Until that strategy is called out and addressed internationally, the tragedy of Gaza’s civilians being caught in the crossfire will sadly continue.