IDF strikes rocket launchers next to aid warehouses in southern Gaza

Israeli fighter jets struck Hamas rocket launchers located adjacent to aid warehouses in the southern Gaza Strip, which had been used in recent attacks on southern Israel, the military says.

Dozens of rockets were fired over the past week from southern Gaza, mostly at Israeli border communities, but also several long-range attacks at the Gan Yavne area near Ashdod, and towns near Kiryat Malachi.

According to the IDF, the rockets were fired from launchers placed adjacent to two humanitarian aid distribution warehouses, including one belonging to UNRWA.

The launchers were struck and destroyed, and the IDF says it identified secondary explosions following the airstrike, indicating that additional weapons were stored there.

“The Hamas terrorist organization regularly violates international law, while systematically exploiting civilian buildings and the civilian population as human shields for terror activity against the State of Israel,” the IDF says in a statement.

“Alongside this, the IDF, through COGAT, will continue to work in cooperation with the international aid organizations in the Gaza Strip,” it adds.