Las Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported early Saturday that they carried out a “selective” attack in Gaza City against a building that formerly functioned as a school and was used by a terrorist squad that planned attacks on Israeli soil in the near future.
The attack was carried out by a plane from the Air Force and had the support of Shin Bet (intelligence service) and the IDF Southern Command.
“An Air Force plane attacked recently, selectively and with intelligence guidance, a terrorist squad that was planning and en route to carrying out terrorist plots against our forces in the Gaza Strip and throughout Israeli territory in the immediate period,” the Israeli Army said in a statement posted on its social network account. X.
The attacked building, which previously operated as a children’s school under the name Jaffa, was identified as a location used by organizations that, according to the IDF, “brutally exploit” civilian institutions for terrorist purposes.
Israel claimed to have taken measures to minimize harm to uninvolved people, justifying the attack with the accusation that armed organizations in Gaza violate international law by using civilians as “human shields”.
On Friday night, The Israeli Army reported that it intercepted two projectiles launched from the center of the Gaza Stripwhich set off alarms in the coastal city of Ashkelon.
The attack occurred around 9:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. GMT). Minutes before, the Palestinian group Islamic Jihadconsidered a terrorist by Israel and an ally of Hamas in the October 7 attacks, claimed to have launched a “missile barrage” against Ashkelon and the surrounding communities.
According to the Israeli emergency services, no casualties have been reported as a result of the incident.
The rocket fire from Gaza came after an Israeli operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center of the Strip, carried out to eliminate a senior Islamic Jihad official who, according to Israel, was hiding in the area.
During the offensive, The Israel Defense Forces reported secondary explosions that likely damaged a building near the targetwhich according to military authorities confirms the presence of an arsenal of weapons in the attacked location.
Although rocket attacks from Gaza towards Israel decreased in frequency during the last months of conflict, episodes like this Friday highlight the latent tensions.
On Wednesday, The Israeli Army had ordered residents from several areas of the Al Maghazi refugee camp, also in central Gaza, to move towards a “humanitarian zone” along the coast.
The measure was taken after detecting the launch of rockets that fell in uninhabited areas or were intercepted by Israeli defenses.
(With information from Europa Press)
