The Israeli Defence Forces shared a purported video on Wednesday of a mosque, reportedly in Gaza, where it found a Hamas-run laboratory for making rockets besides stored weapons. The Israeli forces said that the Palestinian militant group was using the mosque in Gaza’s Zeitoun neighbourhood as a weapons storage facility.
“Holy places, such as mosques, should not be used as fronts for terrorism,” said the IDF in a post on X, sharing the video of the mosque.
“Hamas used this mosque as a weapons storage facility and a laboratory for Hamas’ rockets. Finding dozens of mortars, warhead missiles, thermobaric weapons, RPGs and a tunnel shaft,” it said.
“What was once a place of worship is now a home for terrorism.”
Holy places, such as mosques, should not be used as fronts for terrorism.
Hamas used this mosque as a weapons storage facility and a laboratory for Hamas’ rockets. Finding dozens of mortars, warhead missiles, thermobaric weapons, RPGs and a tunnel shaft.
What was once a place… pic.twitter.com/i6qK0j4HgQ
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 21, 2023
“I want you to understand: A mosque, in the Zeitoun area, was being used as a lab for making weapons,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press conference on Sunday, reported Time of Israel.
“Troops enter the mosque, carry out scans, and make sure there are no traps. They head inside this mosque and find a tunnel shaft… and a staircase,” Hagari said.
The Israeli troops found “a workshop for making rockets” in the basement, the Times of Israel report added.
“Terrorists manufacturing rockets in a mosque. Using Islam and the symbols of Islam to create terror,” he charged.
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On Wednesday, the Israeli government backed a deal with Hamas to free 50 hostages in Gaza in exchange for a four-day pause in fighting for humanitarian aid to reach the coastal strip, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated.
The deal, which was brokered by Qatar and the US, would also see the release of 150 Palestinians from Israeli jails.
The truce comes as the first one since the starting of the war on October 7 when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that killed around 1,400 Israelis.
