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The Israeli military on Wednesday provided aerial evidence of three Hamas rocket launching sites located close to schools in the Gaza Strip.
It was also made public that the militant group that governs the Palestinian coastal enclave was in contact with educators to promote terrorist infrastructure close to the educational sites in Gaza City — the Mo'ath Bin Jabal School, the Khalil Al Nobani Secondary Female School and the Al-Furqan Public School.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the principal of the Mo'ath Bin Jabal was in contact with a Hamas operative before the launch of the IDF's "Guardian of the Walls" operation in May 2021 and allowed rocket launches toward Israeli territory from the vicinity of the school.
Rockets were fired close to the Al-Furqan Public School during "Guardian of the Walls" and also during the IDF's Operation "Breaking Dawn" in August 2022 when Palestinian terrorists fired 1,100 rockets toward Israel and the IDF conducted some 147 airstrikes in Gaza.
The Maaz bin Jabal School is also used as an emergency shelter by UNRWA — the United Nations agency tasked with supporting Palestinians. Last month, UNRWA announced that a terror tunnel was found underneath one of its schools in Gaza, condemning it as a "neutrality breach."
"The conduct of Hamas, which has been exposed once again, proves that the organization uses the residents of the Gaza Strip, and in these cases innocent children, as human protectors," the IDF said. "Over 1,000 students routinely study in these schools — the Hamas organization consciously chooses to endanger them."
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Members of the Izz ad-Din al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, parade on Hamas' 35th anniversary in Gaza City, December 14, 2022
(Photo: Reuters)
The revelation that Hamas places rocket launchers near schools comes on the day that the terrorist group sworn to Israel's destruction marked its 35th anniversary with a rally in Gaza City attended by hundreds of thousands. At the rally, Hamas again threatened Israel. The movement's leader in Gaza, Yahya Al-Sinwar, warned Israel of another armed confrontation.
"We will come to you with an endless number of rockets, we will come to you with an endless number of soldiers," he said.