The Israeli military bombed a mosque in Gaza, accusing the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Wednesday of using it to store weapons.

The Hamas-run government media office in Gaza responded by saying Israel’s claims aimed “to justify its attacks on mosques” and were “entirely false.” There were no reports of deaths from the attack.

The Israeli military said advance warning was provided to civilians “to mitigate the risk of harm to them.”

Footage reviewed by The New York Times shows people walking in Gaza City on Tuesday near clusters of tents for families displaced during the two-year Gaza war. An Israeli bomb explodes on the mosque, sending clouds of dark smoke billowing into the evening skies.

Israel has intensified its strikes on Gaza in recent weeks, despite signing a U.S.-backed cease-fire deal with Hamas in October. Israeli officials say the military has been targeting Hamas and its weapons infrastructure.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Supported by

By Adam Rasgon and Iyad Abuheweila

Photographs by Saher Alghorra

Advertisement