IDF bombs underground terror network hidden under mosque, killing terrorists inspired by Gaza invasion to massacre Israelis.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
An Israeli aircraft bombed a mosque in the northern Samaria city of Jenin overnight, after a terrorist network was discovered to be operating in the building.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters Sunday morning that an IDF aircraft struck an “undercover terror route” which included the al-Ansari mosque in Jenin.
A terrorist cell made up of members of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups were using the mosque as a center of operations, Hagari said, and were on the verge of carrying out a large-scale “murderous terror attack inside Israel.”
The Jenin terror cell was apparently inspired by the Gaza invasion of southwestern Israel on October 7th, and had collected an arsenal including guns, bombs, and other equipment for their attack.
Underground tunnels were dug to and from the mosque, allowing terrorists to secretly enter and leave the building, and to smuggle weapons in and out.
“Hamas desecrates holy places in the hope that we will attack them. They use the symbols of Islam as a human shield,” Hagari said.
The al-Ansari mosque has been targeted by the IDF in the past during counter-terror sweeps of Samaria, with security personnel raiding the building earlier this year to confiscate weapons and search for wanted terrorists.
Two tunnels were discovered underneath the mosque during the July raid.
Terrorists operating out of the mosque carried out a bombing attack against IDF forces on October 14th. No injuries were reported in the attack.
According to the Palestinian Authority’s WAFA media outlet, two terrorists were killed in the Jenin airstrike.