Tel Aviv:Israel Defence Forces on Saturday accused the Palestinian militant outfit Hamas of turning residential areas in the Gaza Strip into military strongholds.
"It [Hamas] uses tall buildings in Gaza for multiple military purposes such as intelligence gathering, planning attacks, command and control, and communications," IDF posted on Twitter.
The following tweet came minutes after the reports of a building that housed Associated Press and Al Jazeera news outlets was collapsed following an airstrike by the Israel.
Giving an explanation as to why it targets such buildings, the IDF said the building become a military target when they are used by Hamas for military purposes. "This is clear international law," it said.
"The Israel Defense Forces struck a number of such buildings in recent days, but before we did so, we took steps to try and ensure that civilians would not be harmed," the Israeli military said adding that they call the building's residents and warn them to leave.
"We sent SMS messages. We dropped "roof knocker" bombs; they make loud noises and hit only the roof. We provided sufficient time to evacuate," said IDF.
Over the past six days, armed conflict between Israel and the Hamas-led militant groups have kept flaring up, marking the fiercest fighting between the two sides since 2014 that has killed more than 120 Palestinians and nearly 10 Israelis.
Israel destroys Hamas rocket launch site
The Israeli Air Force has destroyed a long-range rocket launch site that was used to fire rockets at Jerusalem last Monday, Israel Prime Minister's spokesman Ofir Gendelman said on Saturday.
"The Israeli air force destroyed last night the very rocket launcher that Hamas terrorists have used to fire long range rockets at #Jerusalem this past Monday. Justice has been served," Gendelman tweeted.
The shelling of Jerusalem and its suburbs on Monday evening kicked off the current round of conflict escalation at the border of the Gaza Strip. Since the start of the confrontation, as of Saturday morning, more than 2,200 rockets have been launched from Gaza into Israeli territory, and the Israeli Defense Force have retaliated with hundreds of strikes on Hamas targets in the enclave.
The Palestinian militant organisation Hamas has so far fired over 2,500 rockets at Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman Ofir Gendelman said on Saturday.
"Hamas has fired up till now 2,500 rockets at Israelis in order to kill as many of them as possible. Hamas doesn't warn in advance & doesn't call people so they can go to safety on time. Israel does that," Gendelman tweeted.
He further said that one-third of those rockets fell inside the Gaza Strip, killing Palestinians.
Over the past six days, armed conflict between Israel and the Hamas-led militant groups have kept flaring up, marking the fiercest fighting between the two sides since 2014 that has killed more than 120 Palestinians and nearly 10 Israelis.(UNI)