Israel targets mosque in Gaza under ‘Hamas weapons dump’ pretext

A fireball rises after an Israeli air strike on the Al-Muttaqin Mosque.—Reuters

GAZA CITY: The Israeli military on Wednesday admitted to bombing a mosque in the Gaza Strip, which it alleged was being used as a weapons storage facility by Hamas.

Photos showed fire and a huge plume of smoke rising above tents housing displaced Palestinians after a strike on the Al-Muttaqin Mosque, near the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) building.

People could be seen combing through vast piles of rubble and debris in the aftermath of the attack.

Amir Abu Al-Amrain, the director general of the ministry of awqaf and religious affairs in the Gaza Strip, said Israeli forces had “completely destroyed” the mosque in the air strike.

“The occupation cites false pretexts — such as the alleged presence of military sites — to justify these crimes,” he said, calling for urgent intervention to protect mosques and places of worship.

As of March 24, 2026, the UN’s cultural agency Unesco had verified damage to 164 sites since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza. Fourteen of those are religious sites.

“Israeli warplanes carried out a series of air strikes focusing on central and northern Gaza”, said Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah.

“Yes, the whole area was warned, but a very narrow window of time was given for people to take precautionary measures,” he said.

“Is this a ceasefire? Every day there are attacks, every hour, every breath. There are attacks everywhere. They threaten and strike, whether it’s civilian vehicles or anything else they bomb,” Shehadeh Badawi, an eyewitness, told AFP in the aftermath.

Israel killed one person in a separate strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp. The strike targeted a group of Palestinians in a busy market, killing one Palestinian and wounding at least 20 others.

Meanwhile, eight Palestinians fled their home in Abu Najim, near Bethlehem, after Israeli settlers set fire to the building, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Settlers also torched a car and sprayed graffiti on the walls of the building before setting it ablaze, according to locals.

There has been a rise in settler violence targeting Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as lynch mobs attack people in their own homes or in public spaces.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2026 ...