Early this morning, while many in the United States were still sleeping, the Israeli Defense Force targeted and attacked the Tabeen school complex in Gaza City. IDF intelligence sources revealed that the school was being used as a base of operations for Hamas militants. But the Gaza government (run by Hamas) said that the school was being used as a shelter for roughly 350 displaced families, with the lower floor being used as a makeshift mosque. They claim that as many as one hundred people were killed in the strike, including women and children. Pictures of bodies and body bags were quickly distributed to the media. Israel disputes the death toll, saying it is significantly overinflated. This is the same public relations war that breaks out every time Israel strikes Hamas and it's starting all over again. (NY Post)

An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza school compound housing displaced families killed around 100 people, the Hamas-run Gaza government said on Saturday, while the Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants there and cast doubt on the death toll.

Video from the site showed body parts scattered on the ground and more bodies being carried away and covered in blankets on the floor.

Empty food tins lay in a puddle of blood and burnt mattresses and a child’s doll among the debris.

As of this writing, the infamous Gaza Ministry of Health (another wholly owned and operated facility of Hamas) hadn't weighed in on the estimated number of casualties. But you can rest assured that when they do, they will side with whoever cited the highest number, particularly if the figure includes women or children.

The two sides have been debating all of these claims since the war began, but this may turn out to be one of those instances when both of them are telling the truth, at least in part. Looking through the pictures provided thus far and reports from some of the less-biased media outlets, it appears that the Tabeen school complex was indeed being used as a shelter for families displaced during the earlier phases of the fighting, and likely as a mosque as well. Based on the size of some of the bodies being displayed, there unfortunately probably were some women and children lost. 

But if we've learned anything from the war at this point, it's that Hamas always tries to embed its militants with civilians, as well as hiding weapons and other military gear among them. They do this partly to make it less likely that the IDF will strike them, but even if they do, the Hamas leadership really doesn't care because then they can point to the collateral damage and talk about how awful the IDF is and score sympathy points with leftist world leaders. It's a campaign that has unfortunately been all too successful, particularly inside of the United Nations.

With all of that said, I will be among the first to agree that the pictures coming out of the Tabeen school complex are terrible to behold. Nobody is actively cheering for women and children to be killed or injured, even if they are Gazans embedded with militants. But what else is the IDF to do? Israel didn't start this war, but it has fallen on Bibi Netanyahu's shoulders to finish it. And as we've said here until we're blue in the face, bad things happen in war. Israel isn't being given a choice. Hamas, on the other hand, still has a viable option on the table even at this late date. They could surrender to the IDF en masse, turn over all of the remaining living hostages along with the bodies of the dead, and the war would be over. But they keep on fighting and attacking wherever and whenever they can. So the war keeps grinding on. It's not an outcome anyone wanted, yet here we are.