Half of the people killed in Gaza this week were terrorists, an Israeli Government Special Envoy has claimed. 

This week, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended when the IDF launched "extensive strikes" on Gaza, which local officials estimate killed hundreds of people. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum said Israel has been “very careful” to only bomb places where Hamas are known to be operating. 

However, she conceded that some of the casualties are civilians. 

“There’s no question that not all of them are not terrorists,” she said. 

“But Israel believes half of them are terrorists and the terrorist-per-civilian rate… is the lowest of any war in the last 100-years. 

“Including the one that the Allies - the UK, the US did in order to get rid of ISIS - which was one-to-nine. 

“So yes, sorry, there is a war that kills innocent civilians; we never started the war, we never wanted the war - but it’s a war we were forced into and, unfortunately, civilians have been killed in that war.” 

Ms Hassan-Nahoum added that the responsibility for the conflict lies with Hamas, who attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023.

You can listen back to the full interview here:

Main image: Mourners pray over the bodies of Palestinians killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in March 2025. Picture by: AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana.