IDF destroys dozens of Gaza construction vehicles it says used for terror activities
Military notes some of the equipment it targeted was used by Hamas in Oct. 7 assault; Gazan officials report 26 killed in other strikes across Strip
The Israel Defense Forces carried out a series of strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and on Tuesday morning, attacking terror infrastructure and also targeting and destroying some 40 construction vehicles in the Gaza Strip, which the IDF said were used by Hamas for terror activities.
The action came as Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said Israeli air strikes killed at least 26 people across the territory. The figures could not be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and terror operatives.
Israel did not comment on the individual strikes, but says it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
In a statement, the military said that the heavy equipment it destroyed was used by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, onslaught to breach the Israeli border barrier in dozens of locations, allowing thousands of terrorists to stream into Israel.
The earthmovers have also been used by Hamas during the war to plant bombs, dig tunnels, and clear rubble to locate weaponry buried under it, the IDF said.
“The engineering vehicles that were struck are a major component of Hamas’s ability to carry out terror attacks on IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the statement said.
The IDF said the strike was carried out to “disrupt” Hamas’s heavy equipment capability.
A municipality in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza said a strike on its parking garage destroyed nine bulldozers provided by Egypt and Qatar, which helped broker a ceasefire that took hold in January, but then collapsed by March.
Hamas denounced the strikes, saying in a statement that “the occupation’s destruction of civilian equipment intended to aid and rescue civilians and alleviate their suffering… is a confirmation of the criminal nature of this entity, which is devoid of all moral standards.”
Heavy construction equipment was a key stipulation from Hamas in the January ceasefire and threatened to derail the process in February, a month before it eventually fell apart anyway. Hamas said at the time that earth-moving equipment, along with thousands of mobile homes, were needed to provide housing for Gazans after fighting caused widespread devastation across the Strip.
The October 7 Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel killed 1,200 people and saw 251 abducted as hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Two short-lived ceasefires, in November 2023 and January this year, saw most of the hostages released in exchange for boosted humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and the release of over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners held by Israel.
When the January truce fell apart amid mutual accusations of violations, Israel halted all aid deliveries and resumed its military offensive aimed at destroying Hamas, removing it from power in Gaza, and saving the hostages.
Gaza’s health ministry said a UN-backed polio vaccination campaign meant to target over 600,000 children had been suspended, putting the enclave at risk of the revival of a crippling disease that once had been all-but eradicated.
If polio vaccines don’t arrive immediately, “we anticipate a real catastrophe. Children and patients must not be used as cards of political blackmail,” said Hamas-run Gaza health ministry spokesperson Khalil Deqran. He said 60,000 children were now showing symptoms of malnutrition.
Over 1.5 million polio vaccines have been administered during the war after the debilitating disease was detected. Vaccinations were carried out in coordination with Israel, which enabled lulls in fighting in certain areas as the inoculations were delivered.
Israel says its blockade is aimed at pressuring the Hamas terrorists who run Gaza to release 59 remaining Israeli hostages captured in the October 2023 attacks that precipitated the war. Hamas says it is prepared to free them but only as part of a deal that ends the war.
“Israel is acting in full accordance with international law,” Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X, in response to US Senator Bernie Sanders, who called the Israeli blockade of Gaza since March a war crime.
Contrary to the Senator's statement, Israel is acting in full accordance with international law. The humanitarian condition in Gaza is constantly monitored and large quantities of aid were delivered. Whenever it becomes necessary to allow additional aid, it must be ensured that… https://t.co/Hb0k0YyS6J
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) April 22, 2025
“The humanitarian condition in Gaza is constantly monitored, and large quantities of aid were delivered. Whenever it becomes necessary to allow additional aid, it must be ensured that it does not pass through Hamas, which exploits humanitarian aid to maintain control over the civilian population and to profit at their expense,” Katz wrote.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, described the blockade as collective punishment of Gaza’s people.
“The siege must be lifted, supplies must flow in, the hostages must be released, the ceasefire must resume,” Lazzarini said on Tuesday in a post on X.
“Gaza has become a land of desperation,” he wrote. “Hunger is spreading and deepening, deliberate and manmade…. Humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip and a weapon of war.”
The remarks came a day after new US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged Hamas to accept a deal that would secure the release of hostages in exchange for humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
“When that happens, and hostages are released which is an urgent matter for all of us, then we hope that the humanitarian aid will flow and flow freely knowing it will be done without Hamas being able to confiscate and abuse their own people,” Huckabee said in a video statement.
Israel has accused Hamas of diverting aid for its own use, which the Palestinian terror group denies. It blocked all aid to Gaza on March 2, days before the renewed offensive began. The campaign is designed to pressure Hamas into accepting Israeli demands for a new hostage release deal.
The Times of Israel Community.