At least 40 people have been killed and 60 wounded in an Israeli attack on a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, civil emergency authorities in the enclave said.
Gaza’s Civil Defense said at least 20 tents were hit in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis in the early morning attack on Tuesday.
Al-Mawasi has been full of Palestinians sleeping in tents since the Israeli army designated the coastal area a “safe zone” during its ground offensive on Khan Younis and nearby Rafah.
Rescuers searching for survivors said they found craters up to 9 meters (30 feet) deep in the tent camp, Al Jazeera Arabic reported, citing local sources.
Witnesses described chaotic scenes in the area, with fires burning while Israeli spy planes circled overhead.
A spokesman for Gaza’s civil defense said initial assessments at the scene indicated the attack was “one of the most heinous massacres in this fierce war”.
The spokesman said ambulances and the Civil Defense Force were having difficulty evacuating the bodies of those killed in the attack.
Israeli authorities said they struck “significant Hamas militants” who were operating in a command and control center embedded inside the humanitarian zone in Khan Yunis.
“The terrorists went ahead and carried out terror attacks against them [Israeli army] soldiers and the State of Israel,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on X.
“Prior to the strike, numerous measures were taken to minimize the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of specific weapons, aerial surveillance and additional means.”
Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, denied that its fighters were present in the targeted area and accused Israeli authorities of perpetuating lies to justify their “heinous crimes”.
“The resistance has repeatedly denied that any of its members exist in civilian gatherings or use these locations for military purposes,” Hamas said in a statement.
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