Three missiles struck a tented camp crowded with displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi area, southwest of the city of Khan Younis, after midnight on Tuesday 10 September.
The overnight Israeli strike on the designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people from other areas of Gaza are living in dire conditions, killed at least 40 people and injured 60, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense.
Three craters, as deep as seven meters, formed at the strike site.
Mohammed Al-Mughair, Director of Supply and Equipment at Gaza’s Civil Defense, reported that victims were transported to nearby hospitals, adding that efforts are ongoing “to recover 15 missing people.”
“Many are still under the rubble,” said the Civil Defence’s operations director.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed in a statement that its aircraft had carried out a strike, claiming that it was a “precision strike on a number of senior Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control center embedded inside the humanitarian area”.
The targeted individuals were directly involved in planning and executing the October 7 massacre and had been coordinating terrorist activities in recent months, the IDF statement reported.
Hamas swiftly condemned the attack, calling it a “heinous massacre”, refuting the IDF’s claims that a command center was present at the site.
“This is a clear lie that aims to justify these ugly crimes. The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or use these places for military purposes,” Hamas’ statement read.
Since Israel’s conflict with Gaza began on 7 October, recent reports from Reuters indicate that over 40,000 Palestinians, including a significant number of women and children, have been killed. More than 90,000 people have been injured, with many others trapped under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.
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