IDF hits launch site in Gaza after rocket fire on Ashkelon

The Israel Defense Forces on Friday night struck the launcher in northern Gaza from which Palestinian terrorists fired two rockets at Ashkelon earlier in the day.

The Hamas deliberately placed the launcher near a humanitarian zone in the Al-Furqan neighborhood, according to the military.

Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of aerial surveillance, additional intelligence and precise munitions, said the IDF.

“This is further evidence of Hamas’s systematic exploitation of civilians and civilian structures for terrorist activities throughout the Gaza Strip,” added the army.

Air defenses intercepted the two projectiles that targeted the southern Israeli city.

Also on Friday, the IDF announced the targeted killing the previous day of Osama Tabash, chief of Hamas’s Military Intelligence in southern Gaza and head of terrorist group’s Surveillance and Targeting Unit.

Over the years, Tabash was involved in directing attacks, including a 2005 suicide bombing at the Gush Katif Junction in Gaza that killed Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) coordinator Oded Sharon.

Tabash was responsible for formulating Hamas’s combat strategy on the ground and was involved in rebuilding its “military” capabilities during the current war. The Surveillance and Targeting Unit is responsible for collecting visual intelligence to generate targets for the Hamas terrorist organization in Israeli territory and the Gaza Strip. Additionally, he set infiltration objectives for the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

“His elimination impairs Hamas’s intelligence-gathering capabilities and its attempts to harm IDF troops operating in the area,” said the military.