The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it carried out an airstrike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip, claiming the building was being used by Hamas to store weapons.
The strike hit the Al-Muttaqin Mosque in Gaza City. Photos and videos from the area showed a large fire and thick smoke rising over tents where many displaced Palestinians were staying. After the attack, residents searched through the rubble for survivors and belongings.
According to the Israeli military, several Hamas weapons storage sites have been destroyed in central and northern Gaza over the past week.
It said one of the facilities was located inside the mosque and claimed civilians were warned before the strike.
Although a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been in place since October 2025, violence has continued in parts of Gaza. Israeli forces have continued carrying out attacks on people they describe as militants, while efforts to reach a permanent peace agreement have made little progress.
An eyewitness, Shehadeh Badawi, said people in Gaza still face attacks despite the ceasefire.
“Is this a ceasefire? Every day there are attacks, every hour, every breath. They strike civilian vehicles and many other places,” he said.
The Director General of Gaza’s Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, Amir Abu Al-Amrain, condemned the attack, saying the mosque was completely destroyed. He accused Israel of using false claims about military activity to justify attacks on religious sites and called for international action to protect places of worship.
According to UNESCO, as of March 24, 2026, at least 164 cultural sites in Gaza had been damaged since the war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Fourteen of those sites were places of worship.
