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.”
"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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