Times of Israel, on Gaza, 25 October 2026

3.0out of 10Minor

IDF says strike in Gaza, , was diverted to avoid harm ...

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Live Update From the Liveblog of

Sunday, October 25, 2026

IDF says strike in Gaza, reported to kill 3, was diverted to avoid harm to bystanders

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

The Israeli military says its airstrike in Gaza City earlier today was diverted because of bystanders identified in the area.

The strike hit the Islamic University, killing three people.

Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture

The article never says that a truce has been in force in Gaza for over a year. Without it, a reader may take the strike on a university as routine wartime action, not an attack carried out during a declared ceasefire.

How we know

In response to a query by The Times of Israel, the IDF says it launched a strike on a Hamas military wing operative.

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

It is unclear if the target of the strike is among the dead.

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What we found (2)

The Times of Israel runs a short liveblog item that leads with the Israeli military's account of a strike on the Islamic University in Gaza City and gives the three deaths only as unsourced reports. It names Israel as the party that struck and does not claim the target was killed, but only the army speaks. It also never tells the reader that the strike came during a truce more than a year old.

  1. One side gets the space

    Minor

    “reported to kill 3”

    Why this matters
    The headline gives the army's account a named speaker, "IDF says", while the three deaths are only "reported to kill 3", with nobody named as the source.
    The impression it gives
    A reader takes the army's explanation as the solid part of the story and the deaths as an unconfirmed rumour.
    The context
    Other coverage names the source of the toll: staff at the university and a local hospital. It also shows the funeral of the three Palestinians at Al Shifa Hospital.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

    “reportedly”

    Why this matters
    The body repeats the hedge with "reportedly" and again names no source. The army then gets two sentences and a direct quote to explain the strike.
    The impression it gives
    A reader hears only the army in full, and the dead appear as a number of "people" from an unnamed report.
    The context
    The only voice in the item is the Israeli military's. No Palestinian source is quoted, even though the university staff, the hospital and Gaza's education ministry all spoke about the strike.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

  2. Leaves out what changes the picture

    Minor

    What is missing

    The article never says that a truce has been in force in Gaza for over a year. Without it, a reader may take the strike on a university as routine wartime action, not an attack carried out during a declared ceasefire.

    How we know

    Show where it belongs

What it gets right

  • “The Israeli military says its airstrike in Gaza City earlier today”

    It names the Israeli military as the party that carried out the strike, so the deaths are not left without an actor.

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

    It does not let the army's claim about a Hamas operative turn the dead into the target. It says plainly that the outlet does not know who was killed.

How other outlets reported it

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