The Israeli military launched airstrikes on a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza where the IDF said Hamas terrorists were embedded — killing and injuring dozens of people, according to the Hamas-run civil defense authority.
At least four Israeli missiles struck the tent encampment near Khan Younis which is now home to thousands of civilians who fled their war-torn homes — as well as a Hamas command center, according to the IDF’s claims.
The IDF said early Tuesday the attack “struck significant Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control center embedded inside the humanitarian area in Khan Younis” and added that its air force took steps to limit civilian harm.
The military said it used “precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional means” to mitigate the risk of striking innocent civilians who were sheltering from the war in the encampment, according to CNN.
But Gaza civil emergency service officials said the victims include women and children — and called the strikes “a new Israeli massacre.”
An official with Hamas’ civil defense authority told BBC that 40 people were killed in the attack and 60 others were wounded.
Palestinian news agency WAFA, who cited medical officials, reported the same death toll.
At least 20 tents inside the crowded camp went up in flames and some victims were buried in the deep craters left by the missiles.
“Entire families have disappeared in the sand,” Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told CNN, adding that there was no warning before the explosions.
The IDF had designated the area as safe for civilians but accused Hamas of abusing the designation to carry out its terrorist activities against Israel.
More than 40,900 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, have been killed by the IDF’s attacks on Gaza since the war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants invaded Israel and slaughtered 1,200 people and took 250 hostage.
With Post wires
