A rocket strike by Hamas hit the second-largest mosque in Israel near Jerusalem on Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
The rocket “directly hit the Akhmat Kadyrov mosque,” according to the ministry, The Moscow Times reported. No people were harmed as a result of the attack.
A Hamas rocket just hit at a Mosque in Abu Gosh, near Jerusalem. Tell me again how Hamas cares so much about Muslims … pic.twitter.com/F4xhrwLRqF
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) October 9, 2023
The demolished Israeli mosque was dedicated to Akhmat Kadyrov, a Chechen separatist fighter who switched sides and pledged allegiance to Russia in the 1990s, according to the outlet. The building was opened in the village of Abu Ghosh in 2014 by Ramzam Kadyrov, a Chechen leader and the son of Akhmat Kadyrov.
Today’s residents of Abu Ghosh descended from Chechens who moved to the lands of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, researchers say, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Terrorists Infiltrate Israel From Lebanon, IDF Says)
Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel with 5,000 rockets followed by gunfire Saturday morning, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare war. The terrorist organization barraged Israel from the Gaza Strip during the first wave of rocket attacks.
Netanyahu reportedly told U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday that Israel had no choice but to commence a ground invasion of Gaza in retaliation. There were nine American citizens confirmed dead on Monday since the beginning of the war, a State Department spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.