IDF Says It Struck Hamas Weapon Depots in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces and Israel's Shin Bet security agency said Monday they carried out a series of strikes that destroyed five Hamas weapons storage facilities and a Hamas launch site across the Gaza Strip, according to a joint statement cited by multiple Israeli outlets. Ynetnews reported that the facilities contained rockets, weapons, explosive devices, grenades, ammunition and other military equipment intended for attacks against Israeli forces. Some of the depots, the military said, had been concealed inside mosques and near humanitarian infrastructure.

According to Israel National News, the IDF and Shin Bet on Monday struck and destroyed five Hamas weapon storage facilities and a Hamas launch site in several strikes across the Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, in the facilities, Hamas stored rockets, weapons, explosive devices, grenades, ammunition, and additional military equipment to advance terror attacks against IDF troops in the Gaza Strip. The outlet reported that these storage facilities were established inside mosques and alongside humanitarian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

The military framed the strikes as part of a broader pattern of alleged Hamas conduct. Israel National News quoted the IDF statement as saying "this is another example of Hamas' systematic exploitation of the civilian population and infrastructure, including mosques and humanitarian infrastructure, in violation of international law." The outlet also reported that the military stressed that before all the strikes, advance warnings were issued to the population in order to mitigate harm to civilians, with additional precautions including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.

JNS confirmed the operation's basic outline, reporting that the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) dismantled in a joint operation on Monday five Hamas weapon storage facilities and a Hamas launch site in several strikes across the Gaza Strip, the military said.

The IDF has made similar claims repeatedly in recent weeks. The Times of Israel reported on a prior incident in which the Israeli military said it destroyed two Hamas weapons depots in the Gaza Strip, which were located inside mosques, with mosques in Gaza City and Deir al-Balah used by Hamas to store dozens of assault rifles and other weapons, according to the IDF. That earlier statement echoed the language used Monday, with the IDF calling it "another example of Hamas's systematic exploitation of civilian infrastructure, including" mosques, the paper noted.

Not every outlet has treated the IDF's mosque-related claims as settled fact. The Times of Israel separately reported on an earlier strike in Gaza City, noting that the army said Al-Muttaqin Mosque was among Hamas sites struck this week, but offered no evidence of arms there. BreakFirst notes that, as with Monday's strikes, the IDF's claims about weapons hidden in religious and humanitarian sites could not be independently verified.

The strikes come more than four months into a fragile truce in Gaza. JNS reported that the current ceasefire went into effect in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 10, 2025, ending the two-year war that began when Hamas, other Palestinian terrorist groups and Gazan civilians invaded the northwestern Negev in October 2023. Since the ceasefire took hold, Israel has periodically resumed strikes it says are responses to Hamas violations. The Jerusalem Post reported in October that the IDF said it would begin re-enforcing the Gaza ceasefire after it carried out "a series of strikes" against what it called Hamas terror infrastructure, and Fox News reported around the same period that the Israeli military conducted strikes against Hamas in Gaza after accusing the terrorist organization of multiple ceasefire violations, including RPG and sniper attacks.

Ynetnews noted that Monday's operation was described by the military as targeting sites where rockets, explosives and ammunition were found inside mosques and near humanitarian infrastructure. As of Monday's statement, the IDF had not provided casualty figures or precise locations for the five destroyed facilities, and Hamas had not issued a public response to the specific claims, according to the reporting reviewed. Israeli officials have indicated that military operations enforcing the ceasefire's terms are expected to continue, with further strikes likely if the IDF identifies additional Hamas infrastructure inside the territory.