Israeli strike on Gaza’s Islamic University kills three; the military says it targeted a Hamas operative

An Israeli strike hit the Islamic University in Gaza City on 25 October and killed three people, according to Shifa Hospital and university sources quoted by the Times of Israel and Arab News. The Israeli military said the strike was aimed at a Hamas military-wing operative and that the munition was diverted after uninvolved people were identified nearby.

What was reported

Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it received three bodies and treated eight wounded people. Two sources at the university told the outlets that the dead were administrative staff and that the injured were students. Gaza’s Education Ministry, which is run by the Hamas authorities, said students were attending classes at the time. These figures come from the Palestinian side and have not been confirmed by an independent body.

The Israeli military’s account

The Times of Israel quoted the Israeli military as saying it launched the strike on a Hamas military-wing operative and that “following the identification of uninvolved individuals in the area, the munition was diverted to minimize harm to them”. It was not clear whether the intended target was among the dead. Arab News reported that, when contacted, the military said it was looking into the reports.

Education Ministry reaction

The Education Ministry condemned the strike and said “the global silence regarding attacks on students and universities” encourages further attacks. It said 10 students and educators had been killed over the previous six days and that the higher-education sector faces “total annihilation”. Those are the ministry’s own claims.

Other strikes the same day

Gaza’s civil defence spokesman, Mahmoud Bassal, said other people were killed in Israeli strikes across the Strip on 25 October, including near Khan Younis and in Deir al-Balah; the two outlets give slightly different counts. Separately, the Israeli military said it had killed two operatives it accused of funnelling millions of shekels to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and that it had struck three Hamas weapons depots in central Gaza, describing this as “systematic violation of the ceasefire” by Hamas.

Ceasefire context

A truce has been in place in Gaza since October 2025 but has not fully stopped the violence, Arab News noted. Hamas denies Israeli reports that it threatened a new attack; Geopolitiki covered that dispute in Hamas denies Israeli reports that it threatened a new 7 October-style attack through a UN envoy.