Israel launched airstrikes on Hamas terrorists in southern Gaza overnight after intelligence determined they were gathering at two locations to hijack humanitarian aid trucks, the Israel Defence Forces disclosed on Friday.

“The terrorists operated on the humanitarian corridor in the southern Gaza Strip. The strike was intended to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip,” the army said. “All of the terrorists that were eliminated were members of Hamas and planned to violently hijack humanitarian aid trucks and transfer them to Hamas in support of continuing terrorist activity, preventing them from reaching Gazan civilians, as was done in previous cases.”