Israeli forces located and destroyed weapons caches inside a Gaza university and in residential homes, as well as a rocket launching site placed inside a humanitarian zone, the Israel Defense Forces said over the weekend.
The army said that combat teams eliminated dozens of terrorists, located tunnel shafts and seized weapons caches in the central Gaza areas of Al-Zahra, on the outskirts of Nuseirat, and Al-Omdan, on the outskirts of Gaza City.
One raid targeted an unspecified university that was used by Hamas as a headquarters and from which terrorists fired at troops. Soldiers seized weapons and barrel bombs found on the university campus.
Also during the weekend, an Israeli drone destroyed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket launching site set up inside a designated humanitarian zone in the Khan Yunis area.
“Terror organizations continue to place weapons and terror infrastructure in the heart of the civilian population, putting them at risk and using them as a human shield,” the military said in a statement.
The IDF also released footage of weapons and tunnel shafts found inside residential buildings in Rafah. Troops located grenades, explosives, a rocket launcher, anti-tank missiles, ammunition and other arms hidden in wardrobes. In one home, a tunnel shaft was found beneath a child’s bed. Soldiers also found Hamas had knocked holes in the walls of adjoining homes to let terror squads pass through the buildings without venturing into the streets. In one air strike, secondary explosions were seen, indicating the presence of large numbers of weapons.
איתור מנהרה בעזה באמצעות רחפן. pic.twitter.com/0AZyxEuOY6
— בז news (@1717Bazz) June 20, 2024
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 116 remaining hostages, more than 30 are believed dead.
