Israeli army says it found major Gaza weapons depot

Israel's military said Wednesday it found a major arms depot "in the heart of a civilian population" in Gaza, and seized or destroyed missiles, grenades, drones and other weapons.

"One of the largest weapons depots in the Gaza Strip was found near a clinic and school" in the north of the Palestinian territory, a statement said.

In mid November, the Israeli forces besieged and raided al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, followed several days later by an attack on the Indonesian Hospital, another main hospital in the north of the Strip. Since the seven-day truce ended on Dec. 1, two UN schools turned shelter for the displaced were also struck by Israeli bombs.

"The depot contained hundreds of RPG missiles and launchers of various types, dozens of anti-tank missiles, dozens of explosive devices, long-range missiles aimed at central Israel, dozens of grenades and UAVs," the army claimed in the statement. "Some were destroyed on-site and some were sent for further investigation."

Israel launched a major ground campaign in Gaza after weeks of bombardments following Hamas's Oct. 7 attack.

The attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and another 240 were taken back into Gaza as hostages, Israeli officials say.

The latest toll from the Gaza Health Ministry records 16,248 people killed in the besieged enclace since the start of Israel's campaign, most of them women and children.

In its statement on Wednesday, the Israeli army called the discovery of the weapons depot "additional proof of Hamas' cynical use of the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields."