Three children were among 13 people killed by an overnight Israeli strike in the two-month-old ‘humanitarian zone’ in southern Gaza, according to a local hospital.
People of the area expressed that three missiles in a tented area of displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi, south of the city of Khan Younis, left 7-meter-deep (23-foot) craters.
The Israeli military said its aircraft attacked what it called “a number of senior Hamas terrorists” operating there—a claim Hamas denied.
The military also did not agree with the high estimate by the emergency Hamas Civil Defense agency, which said that more than 40 bodies had been pulled out by rescue teams.
Tens of thousands of other Gazans from other parts of this Strip are housed in wretched conditions in al-Mawasi after being advised by Israel that they should pack and move here for their ‘protection’.
The sources said that as many as three massive blasts were heard at 00:20 local time on Tuesday and that fires were visible ascending into the sky.
Khaled Mahmoud, who helps out for a charitable organization and resides in a nearby neighborhood of the location of the strike, stated that as soon as he and other volunteers learned of the strike, they immediately went to the area with the intent of aid but were shocked by the level of devastation.
“The strikes and the fires that ensued left three holes of seven meters [23 feet] deep and buried more than twenty tents,” said Mr. Mahmoud.
The Civil Defense’s operations director said overnight that more than 40 people were killed and more than 60 others injured. He also added that “many are still under the rubble,” which was in reference to the fact that the affected people were still trapped under the debris of the buildings.
On the same footage, there was no death toll report from Gaza’s health ministry that is affiliated with the Hamas group.
We later got to the Nasser hospital, in which Khan Younis neighbors; an official said that 13 persons who perished in the strike were taken there.
