Israeli Airstrike Destroys Gaza City Mosque

Leaves Hundreds Homeless Amid Ceasefire Violations

Report By Y-Trendz

Gaza City — July 29, 2026

An Israeli airstrike flattened the Al-Muttaqin Mosque in central Gaza City on Tuesday, July 28, destroying a place of worship that had also been sheltering displaced Palestinian families, according to

multiple news agencies covering the strike.

The Strike

Israeli fighter jets struck the mosque, located in the Yarmouk neighborhood near Yarmouk Stadium and close to a Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) building, completely destroying the structure and also demolishing tents that had been providing shelter for displaced families nearby, according to Anadolu Agency's correspondent on the ground. The blast additionally caused extensive damage to nearby homes and other civilian property in the area.

Video footage circulated by Al Jazeera showed a powerful explosion tearing through the mosque, with dozens of displaced people known to be sheltering in tents near the stadium at the time of the strike. The blast injured several Palestinians in the immediate vicinity.

According to the Anadolu correspondent, hundreds of Palestinians were left without shelter following the attack, compounding what was already a dire humanitarian situation for families who had been displaced multiple times over the course of the war. Local residents said the Israeli bombardments continue to close in on them despite the ceasefire agreement that came into effect last October.

Part of a Wider Pattern

The mosque strike did not occur in isolation. Wider reporting on the same day indicated that at least one person was killed and 22 others were injured across Gaza in a fresh wave of Israeli strikes, with the mosque attack being among the most prominent incidents. Separately, Israeli strikes and gunfire left at least 22 people wounded that Tuesday, including in an attack on a school, according to local sources cited by Al Jazeera. The Israeli army also injured 17 Palestinians in a drone strike and gunfire targeting a civilian gathering and two camps for displaced people elsewhere in Gaza that same day, with the attacks coming amid continued violations of the ceasefire agreement that has technically been in effect since October 10, 2025.

Just days earlier, on July 24, Israeli warplanes bombed another mosque and its surrounding area in the Bureij camp in central Gaza. Israel had also issued displacement orders for several areas of Gaza before bombing the territory that day, killing at least two people, according to medical sources.

Scale of Destruction to Gaza's Religious Sites

The Al-Muttaqin strike adds to a staggering toll on Gaza's religious infrastructure over the course of the war. Gaza's Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs reported on July 2 that Israeli attacks had completely destroyed 1,050 mosques and partially damaged 191 others, out of 1,275 mosques that existed in the enclave before the war began — meaning the vast majority of the territory's mosques have now been destroyed or damaged.

This is not the first time Gaza's oldest and most significant religious sites have come under fire. Earlier in the conflict, the historic al-Omari Mosque — regarded as one of the most important heritage sites in the region — was likewise destroyed, with the Israeli military stating at the time that the target had been "terrorist infrastructure" including a tunnel shaft. Israel has consistently maintained that Hamas embeds fighters and military infrastructure within civilian sites, including mosques, hospitals, and schools, and has said it takes precautions to limit civilian harm even as the civilian toll from such strikes has continued to mount.

Broader Toll Since the Ceasefire

The mosque strike comes against the backdrop of a ceasefire that has repeatedly come under strain since it took hold in October 2025. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, Israeli army violations of the ceasefire have killed at least 1,084 people and wounded 3,491 others since the truce took effect — a scale of continued violence that rights groups and Gaza officials have characterized as a serious breach of the agreement. The overall death toll from Israel's war on Gaza since October 2023 now stands at more than 73,000, with over 173,000 people wounded, according to the same ministry figures.

As of Wednesday, neither the Israeli military nor its spokesperson's office had issued a specific public statement addressing the Al-Muttaqin Mosque strike or its stated military rationale, according to available reporting. Gaza's civil defense and humanitarian agencies continue to assess the scale of the displacement caused by the attack, with hundreds of families reportedly forced to seek alternative shelter amid an already acute housing crisis in the enclave.