Israeli air strike targets Gaza weapons facilities

GAZA, July 24 (Reuters) Israel bombed buildings in the Gaza Strip today which the army said were being used by militants to make rockets for attacks on the Jewish state.

Israel warned residents to leave the buildings before the air strikes to try to avoid civilian casualties.

One of the targeted warehouses was being used by the Islamic Jihad militant group to manufacture and store missiles and ammunition, the Israeli army said. Palestinian sources confirmed that the group had been using the storage site.

Israel also hit a facility used by Hamas to make rockets, the army said.

In its more than three-week operation against militants in Gaza, the Israeli military has killed around 115 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians.

The operation was designed to stop militants firing rockets into Israel and to secure the release of an Israeli soldier seized by members of Hamas and other militant groups on June 25.

Reuters SRS DB1138