Facing international criticism of its conduct of the war and its latest strike on a U.N. school building being used as a shelter in Nuseirat, the Israeli military offered a full-throated defense of the operation, insisting its forces had targeted a group of about 30 militants using three classrooms as a base.

A military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Israel had carried out “a precise, intelligence-based strike” against “dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists hiding inside a U.N. school.” He said some of the militants had participated in the attacks against Israel on Oct. 7.

Admiral Hagari said the operation took place after “three days of surveillance” and was designed to destroy three specific classrooms in the school where the Israeli military believed roughly 30 militants were staying and planning operations.

Israel twice delayed the strike on the school complex because it had identified civilians in the area, he said.

“The terrorists inside the school were planning more attacks against Israelis, some of them imminent,” he said. “We stopped a ticking time bomb.”