TEL AVIV, June 23. /TASS/. Israel has delivered strikes on facilities in the central Gaza Strip, which used to be operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and are now used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad radicals as a shield, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

"This morning (Sunday), IAF (Israeli Air Force -TASS) fighter jets directed by IDF and ISA intelligence struck terrorist infrastructure in which Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were operating. The terrorists operated from within buildings that previously served as an UNRWA headquarters and which the terrorists used as a shield for their terrorist activities," it said.

"This is another example of Hamas' systematic exploitation of civilian infrastructure and the civilian population as a human shield for its terrorist activities," it stressed, adding that "many precautionary measures were taken to reduce the risk of harming civilians" before the attack.