Israeli troops discover Hamas weapons stored inside Gaza Strip school building

Israeli troops in the southern Gaza Strip late Sunday discovered a weapons cache inside a school building, where Hamas militants were storing mortars, hand grenades, explosives and other weapons, Israel Defense Forces officials said.

The IDF and the Israeli security agency Shin Bet said Monday that soldiers near Rafah discovered and destroyed a tunnel used by Hamas militants that was several hundred yards long and more than 65 feet below the surface.

“The tunnel route was used as a gathering place for Hamas terrorists and connected a number of tunnel routes in the area,” IDF officials said Monday on their Telegram messaging site.

IDF soldiers in northern Gaza uncovered an ambush site where a number of Hamas fighters were waiting for them, officials said.

“In coordination with the [Israeli Air Force], the terrorists were eliminated,” they said.

Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of the General Staff, spoke Sunday with the parents of Edan Alexander, an IDF soldier being held hostage by Hamas.

“We are doing everything possible to bring them back. I see this as a top priority for myself and the IDF,” Gen. Zamir said in a statement. “I am the commander of these soldiers, and this is on my mind in every decision I take.”