An Israeli strike overnight in the designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza killed at least 13 people, according to a local hospital.
Residents reported that three missiles struck a tented camp populated with displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi neighborhood, south-west of Khan Younis, causing 7-meter-deep (23-foot) holes.
The Israeli military said its aircraft attacked “a number of senior Hamas terrorists” operating there, which Hamas disputed.
The military also contested the initial death toll published by the Hamas-run Civil Defense Authority, which stated that rescue crews had discovered more than 40 bodies.
Hundreds of thousands of people from other parts of Gaza are living in deplorable conditions in al-Mawasi after Israel told them to flee for their own safety.
According to eyewitnesses, massive explosions erupted in the neighborhood shortly after midnight on Tuesday, with flames reaching into the sky.
Khaled Mahmoud, a charity volunteer who lives near the strike site, said he and other volunteers rushed to assist but were taken aback by the scale of the devastation.
“The strikes created three craters seven meters [23 feet] deep and buried more than 20 tents,” claimed Mr. Mahmoud.
Overnight, the Civil Defense operations director reported that more than 40 people had been murdered and more than 60 more injured. He further warned that “many are still under the rubble.”.
There was no early casualty report from Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.
Later Monday, an administrator at the adjacent Nasser hospital in Khan Younis confirmed that 13 individuals killed in the strike had been brought there.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated planes had carried out “a precise strike on a number of senior Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control center embedded inside the humanitarian area.”
They included Samer Abu Daqqa, the commander of Hamas’ aerial unit, and Osama Tabesh, the head of the observation and targets department of Hamas’ military intelligence headquarters, according to the report.
“Prior to the strike, extensive intelligence gathering was conducted, as well as continuous aerial surveillance in the hours leading up to the strike, which confirmed the presence of the terrorists in the area alongside additional terrorist operatives.”
The IDF accused Hamas of stationing its agents and military infrastructure in the humanitarian zone while employing civilians as human shields
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A Hamas statement condemned the strike on al-Mawasi as a “heinous massacre” and disputed the IDF’s allegation that it had a command center there.
“This is an obvious untruth intended to explain these heinous actions. “The resistance has repeatedly denied that any of its members exist in civilian gatherings or use these locations for military purposes,” it stated.
The Israeli military initiated a campaign to destroy Hamas in reaction to the group’s devastating offensive on southern Israel on October 7, which killed over 1,200 people and returned 251 others to Gaza as hostages.
More than 40,980 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The battle has displaced an estimated 1.9 million people, or more than 80% of the population, with some having to evacuate up to ten times.
