(Communicated by the IDF Spokesman)
Last night, July 24, 2006, the IDF carried out aerial attacks in the Gaza Strip, targeting three buildings used for the manufacturing and storage of weapons. The targets were:
- A building in the city of Gaza used by Islamic Jihad to store weapons. A secondary explosion occurred because of the explosives inside.
- A building in the city of Rafah used by Islamic Jihad to store weapons. Some secondary explosions occurred because of the explosives inside.
- A building in the city of Gaza used by Hamas to store weapons.
Prior to the attack on these terror facilities, in order to ensure the safety of civilians in the area, the Air Force aircraft dropped leaflets over Gaza City cautioning the area's Palestinian population to vacate and avoid houses used by terror organizations to store weapons, as such structures are subject to IDF attack. This call follows the consistent and repeated use by terror organizations of civilian houses to stockpile weapons, among them Kassam rockets and launchers.
Terrorist organizations operate from within civilian population, while cynically exploiting uninvolved civilians and using them as human shields, taking advantage of their homes to store weaponry and launch rockets at Israeli towns from populated areas.
From now on, the IDF intends to attack weapon storage facilities, including those located in houses, and the sites from which rockets are being launched and terror attacks are dispatched against the citizens of Israel.
The IDF is operating with restraint in order to reduce the risk to the Palestinian population. The operation is aimed at terror organizations, headed by Hamas, at the cells who launch rockets at Israel and the terror infrastructure, that have turned the Gaza Strip in into a terror zone.