The destruction of a mosque and some two-dozen Palestinian homes by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday was widely reported by the foreign press.
The Associated Press reported that the IDF had partially demolished the A-Tawhid mosque in the Rafah refugee camp on Saturday and “flattened” it during the operation on Tuesday.
The number of civilian houses destroyed numbered between 15-30, according to various sources.
In response, the IDF spokesperson’s office wrote that terror groups repeatedly take advantage of buildings used by the civilian population to launch attacks against the IDF and to hide tunnels used to facilitate terror activity in the Gaza Strip. The IDF has repeatedly acted to uncover the tunnels and combat terror groups, the response claimed.
While the IDF statement affirmed that several buildings were damaged in crossfire near the Israel-Egypt border (southern Gaza Strip), it did not specify the number or nature of structures affected.