The Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) dismantled in a joint operation on Monday five Hamas weapon storage facilities and a Hamas launch site in several strikes across the Gaza Strip, the military said.
The facilities stored rockets, weapons, explosive devices, grenades, ammunition and additional military equipment intended for use against IDF troops in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said.
These storage facilities had been established inside mosques and alongside humanitarian infrastructure, it continued.
“This is another example of Hamas’s systematic exploitation of the civilian population and infrastructure, including mosques and humanitarian infrastructure, in violation of international law,” the military stated.
The IDF said it issued warnings to the civilian population before carrying out the strikes, with additional precautions including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
Security forces in the IDF’s Southern Command are deployed in the area in accordance with the Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire framework and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat, the statement added.
On Monday night, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter lashed out at Hamas for not disarming, after the IDF’s announcement on the uncovering of dozens of Kalashnikov rifles hidden inside mosques in Gaza.
“Hamas is trying to go back to the world of Oct. 6, when their plans to massacre men, women and children went unnoticed,” Leiter wrote on X, referring to the day before Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, massacring 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza.
“Hamas has committed to repeating Oct. 7 at the first opportunity they get; that’s the only thing they don’t lie about. Israel won’t be surprised again at Hamas barbarism,” Leiter added.
This is not disarmament.
— Ambassador Yechiel (Michael) Leiter (@yechielleiter) August 24, 2026
Hamas is trying to go back to the world of Oct. 6 - when their plans to massacre men, women, and children went unnoticed.
Hamas has committed to repeating Oct. 7 at the first opportunity they get; that’s the only thing they don’t lie about.
Israel… https://t.co/7RG4OFJyFi
Earlier in the day, the IDF said it had dismantled two Hamas weapons storage facilities in mosques containing dozens of Kalashnikov rifles, magazines and other military equipment. The military said storing weapons at religious sites is a “violation of international law.”
IDF strikes two terrorists who took part in Oct. 7 massacre
Also on Monday, the IDF opened fire on two Hamas terrorists in the central Gaza Strip who took part in the Hamas-led invasion of the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023.
The military confirmed that one of them, a Nukhba Force terrorist identified as Mohammad Abu Asaad, was slain in the Deir al-Balah area.
The pair had been recently planning to advance terrorist attacks targeting IDF troops and Israeli civilians, and attempted to rehabilitate the terrorist organization’s armed force while systematically violating the ceasefire, the IDF said.
