Israel destroys Islamic Jihad’s largest rocket production site in Gaza

Israeli forces have located and destroyed the largest long-range rocket manufacturing site utilized by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, officials told Fox News Digital Monday.

Forces from the Israeli Commando Brigade, including the 401st Brigade and the Yahalom Unit, raided the outpost located in the Tel al-Sultan area west of the city of Rafah, where equipment and materials used for manufacturing projectiles were found. 

"During the operation, Commandos and Yahalom special operations forces operated simultaneously above and below ground to eliminate terrorists with drones and precise missiles," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

The Israel Defense Forces destroyed an underground rocket manufacturing site in Gaza. (IDF Spokesman's Unit)

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The IDF estimated that "hundreds" of rockets have been produced at the site over the last few years.

"The destruction of the outpost and the underground production site damages the Islamic Jihad’s ability to produce and fire rockets at Israeli civilians and communities," the IDF statement added. 

Intense fighting in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood has continued for weeks between Israeli forces and terrorists from the PIJ and Hamas. 

The Israel Defense Forces destroyed an underground rocket manufacturing site in Gaza. (IDF Spokesman's Unit)

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Israel has said it will not stop its offensive in Rafah and in the Gaza Strip in general until Hamas is eradicated, despite calls for a cease-fire from the international community.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists take part in a rally to celebrate the shooting attacks in Israel, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip April 8, 2022. (Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

One Israeli soldier was killed during fighting in Rafah on Monday, and Palestinian terrorists launched their largest offensive against the Jewish state in seven months after they fired 20 rockets at Israel’s southern borders, the Times of Israel reported.

Palestinian children are shown with water jugs in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on March 23, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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The rockets were launched from the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza some seven miles north of Rafah. 

The projectiles were largely stopped by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system while others fell in southern Israel, though no damage or injuries were reported.