IDF strikes rocket launch sites across Gaza Strip

The Israel Defense Forces overnight on Tuesday struck four rocket launch sites across the Gaza Strip, saying they had been established under the cover of the ceasefire with Hamas.

The launch pads were ready “to fire rockets against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers, and therefore posed an immediate threat,” according to the military.

The positions were said to have been established by terrorist organizations “in recent weeks,” months after the U.S.-brokered truce went into effect.

Prior to the airstrikes, steps were taken to prevent harm to noncombatants, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance, the IDF said.

Israeli forces remain deployed in Gaza in accordance with the Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire deal brokered by the United States and will continue to eliminate immediate threats, it stressed.

The current truce in the Gaza Strip ended the two-year war that began when Hamas, other Palestinian terrorist groups and Gazan “civilians” invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and taking 251 hostages.

The last reported rocket launch from the Strip occurred on Jan. 8, when a projectile was fired from the Gaza City area, according to the IDF. The military said the rocket did not cross into Israeli territory, and later struck the launch site and other terror infrastructure.

Top Hamas leaders, including Khaled Mashaal and Musa Abu Marzouk, have rejected key parts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan in recent months, including disarmament, despite having agreed to the proposal in October.

Jerusalem says any long-term agreement must include the disarmament of Hamas, its removal from power in Gaza and its exclusion from governing the Palestinian territory.