Israel attacks mosque-based Hamas targets

According to claims made by West Jerusalem, the extremist group was directing attacks from places of worship in Gaza.

Two mosques in Gaza that purportedly housed Hamas command centres used to oversee the militant group’s ongoing massive onslaught have been targeted by Israeli aeroplanes.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reported an operational update early on Sunday. “Fighter jets attacked two operational infrastructures that were located in mosques and were used by the terrorist organisation Hamas to direct terror against the state of Israel,” it stated.

The IDF asserted that Hamas was attempting to dodge Israel’s retaliation for the group’s Saturday surprise attacks by targeting Gaza’s civilian population and holy sites.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel was at war with the militant group Hamas, and as a result, Israel shut off the energy to the Palestinian territories and launched many airstrikes against the organisation. In a speech broadcast on television on Saturday night, he pledged to “take revenge for this black day” and leave all of the Hamas-controlled locations in Gaza in “ruins.”

We will leave nothing but wreckage in every location where Hamas hides and operates, according to Netanyahu. He commanded the local populace to “get out of there now.”

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Hamas invaded towns in the southern portion of the nation and fired rockets into Israel early on Saturday, sparking the start of the conflict. According to local media accounts, more than 300 Israelis have died and nearly 1,600 have been injured. Israeli forces and civilians numbering in the dozens were arrested and transferred to Gaza. Israel was still being attacked by rockets on Saturday night.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 230 people were killed and almost 1,800 injured in Israel’s retaliatory attacks against Hamas.

Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy leader of Hamas, told Al Jazeera that the organisation anticipated to negotiate a prisoner swap in exchange for the release of the thousands of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails because it had seized so many Israelis, including top officials.

While one of its reporters was conducting a live report from the site in downtown Gaza City, Al Jazeera aired footage of what appeared to be an Israeli airstrike that hit a residential skyscraper.