Times of Israel, on Gaza, 26 October 2026

The Times of Israel calls the person Israeli occupation forces say they were aiming at a "Hamas terrorist" in its own headline voice, on the army's say-so alone, and repeats "terror operatives" and "numerous terrorists" in its own words later on, even though its own reporting says the three people killed were university administrative staff. The headline also states the strike's purpose as fact where the body attributes it to the military and says it is unclear whether the claimed target was hit. It hedges the deaths as "reportedly killed" where other outlets reporting the same strike state plainly that it killed three.

9.1

Severe

out of 10

What we found

  1. Labels people on one side's word

    Severe

    “increasingly targeted terror operatives in Gaza, including numerous terrorists who took part in the Hamas-led October 7 atrocities”

    What the words do
    In its own voice the paper calls the people Israel has been killing in Gaza "terror operatives" and "numerous terrorists", with the attribution tucked away at the end of the sentence for a different claim.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That the people Israel has killed in recent months were terrorists, as a matter of record.
    What is actually the case
    The article offers no basis for the label beyond the military's own account of its strikes; the same formula runs in this paper's earlier reports on strikes where no independent identification is given.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

    “involved in building up the terror group”

    What the words do
    The paper writes "the terror group" for Hamas in its own voice while relaying the military's account of what its strikes hit.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That the outlet is describing, rather than repeating, the army's characterisation of who was killed.
    What is actually the case
    Everything in this sentence about who was targeted comes from the military; the article supplies no independent confirmation of any of it.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“According to the military, many of the recent strikes”

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    Israeli occupation forces said they struck a member of Hamas's military wing at the Islamic University. Two university sources said the three people killed were administrative staff and the wounded were students; the army did not name the target and gave no evidence for its claim.

  2. Headline goes beyond the article

    Serious

    “IDF strike targeting Hamas terrorist”

    What the words do
    The headline drops the attribution the body carries, stating the purpose of the strike as fact.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That the strike's target is a known fact rather than a claim by one party to the event.
    What is actually the case
    S1 and S4 both attribute the claim to the Israeli military, and S6 says it is not even known whether the claimed target was hit.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“that the military said targeted a Hamas military wing operative”
    • Elsewhere in the article“It was unclear if the target of the strike was among the dead”

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    Three killed in Israeli strike on Gaza university; army says it was aiming at a Hamas operative.

  3. Doubts one side's dead and not the other's

    Serious

    “Three reportedly killed”

    What the words do
    The headline hedges the Palestinian dead with "reportedly" while putting the army's claim about the target in plain, unhedged words in the same line.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That the deaths are a claim in doubt while the identity of the target is settled, which is the reverse of what the sources show.
    What is actually the case
    A hospital received the three bodies and other outlets covering the same strike state in their own voice that it killed three; it is the target claim that the article itself says is unverified.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

    “were reportedly killed”

    What the words do
    The lead repeats the hedge on the deaths while the Israeli military's account of its own strike runs through the article unqualified.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That the number of dead at the university is uncertain.
    What is actually the case
    Al Shifa hospital confirmed the three bodies and university staff confirmed who they were; Al-Monitor and Le Monde report the deaths as fact.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    An Israeli strike on the Islamic University in Gaza City killed three people and wounded eight on Sunday, Al Shifa hospital and university staff said.

  4. Gives a contested claim the last word

    Minor

    “Following the identification of uninvolved individuals in the area, the munition was diverted to minimize harm to them”

    What the words do
    The paper prints the army's account of care taken with nothing set against it.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That harm to civilians was avoided.
    What is actually the case
    The article's own sources say three people were killed and eight wounded, and that the dead were administrative staff and the wounded students; the piece never puts that against the diversion claim.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“treated eight people who were wounded in the strike”

    Show it in the article

    “It was unclear if the target of the strike was among the dead.”

    What the words do
    Closes the passage on the army's version, leaving the question of who was actually killed hanging.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That identification is simply unresolved.
    What is actually the case
    Two university sources and Palestinian media had already identified the three dead by name and role, which the article reports two sentences earlier and never weighs against the army's claim.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“Palestinian media identified the dead as Ashraf Dahlan”

    Show it in the article

  5. Uses a loaded word

    Minor

    “Hamas-run Education Ministry”

    What the words do
    Attaches a political tag to the ministry whose statement on destroyed universities is being quoted.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That the figures on damaged academic buildings come from a Hamas mouthpiece and can be set aside.
    What is actually the case
    The same statement is carried by Le Monde and Al-Monitor as "Gaza's education ministry", with no such qualifier, while the Israeli military's claims in this article carry no comparable tag.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

  6. Unsourced claim used as framing

    Minor

    “Hamas reportedly told a UN official earlier this month that it was prepared to carry out an October 7-style attack”

    What the words do
    Inserts a grave claim about Hamas's intentions into a report on three university staff being killed, with no source named for it at all.
    What a reader comes away believing
    That a fresh 7 October style attack has been threatened, which casts the strike as pre-emption.
    What is actually the case
    The article names no source for the claim, gives no UN official, and offers nothing by which a reader could test it.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“Hamas reportedly told a UN official”

    Show it in the article

  7. Leaves out what changes the picture

    Minor

    What is missing

    Gaza's civil defence said five other Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes elsewhere in Gaza the same day, and another person was wounded by Israeli gunfire in Jabalia. Without it a reader takes this strike as an isolated incident during a holding ceasefire rather than one of several Israeli killings that day.

    How we know

    Show where it belongs

Every underline is part of a finding. Press one to see why.

in at Gaza university

Three Palestinians in an Israeli strike that the military said targeted a Hamas military wing operative at the Islamic University in Gaza City on Sunday. Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it received three bodies and treated eight people who were wounded in the strike, and two sources at the Islamic University said those killed were administrative staff and the injured were students. Palestinian media identified the dead as Ashraf Dahlan, Shadi Abu Ataya, and Sami Baroud. In response to a query by The Times of Israel, the IDF said it launched the strike on a Hamas military wing operative. “,” the IDF said. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms Displaced Palestinians are seen near their tents at a displacement camp in the central Gaza Strip, October 24, 2026. (Ali Hassan/Flash90) Gaza’s condemned the strike and said that “the global silence regarding attacks on students and universities serves as encouragement for the continuation of these crimes.” “This strike occurs at a time when the higher education sector is facing total annihilation, with 95 percent of the buildings belonging to academic institutions having been damaged as a result of the war,” it continued. Advertisement “This heinous assault is part of a continuous series of attacks on education; over the past six days, 10 students and educators have been killed by the occupation’s fire.” The strike came as Israel in recent months has , saying they posed a threat to Israeli forces. A military station is seen at Kibbutz Nahal Oz in southern Israel on October 22, 2026. (Ilia YEFIMOVICH/AFP) According to the military, many of the recent strikes focused on Hamas operatives ’s force, as well as secret headquarters and Hamas’s civil control mechanisms in the Strip. in Israel, the West Bank or abroad, following the IDF’s expansion past the Gaza ceasefire line and the Palestinian Authority’s cancellation of legislative elections in November. Meanwhile, implementation of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza has stalled, with Hamas refusing to disarm and Israel refusing to withdraw from any part of Gaza until that condition is met. AFP contributed to this report. Is our live election coverage important to you? Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the 2026 Israeli election? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. 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