At least 71 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a designated humanitarian area in Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said, in an attack Israel said targeted senior Hamas leaders.
More than 289 people were injured, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health.
Hamas said the air strike targeted the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis, which the Israeli military had designated as a humanitarian zone, and urged Palestinians to seek shelter there.
An Israeli official said the air strike targeted Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in an “empty area” where “there were only Hamas terrorists and no civilians”.
Rafa Salama, a Hamas commander in Khan Younis, was also targeted in the attack, the official said, calling the intelligence leading up to the incident “accurate.”
But Hamas said claims that its leaders were targeted were “false”, in a statement quoted by Reuters news agency.
“This is not the first time that Israel has claimed to target Palestinian leaders but the claim has subsequently been proven false,” the statement said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he would hold security talks during the day, Reuters reported.
A witness in al-Mawasi told the BBC that the site of the attack looked like an “earthquake” had hit, and videos from the area showed smouldering rubble and bloodied casualties being carried on stretchers. People could be seen desperately trying to dig through the rubble of a large crater with their hands.
Reuters quoted a Hamas official as calling the attack a “serious escalation” that showed Israel was not interested in reaching a ceasefire.
Footage from a nearby Kuwait field hospital showed chaotic scenes as patients were treated on the floor.
Doctors at the Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis said the hospital was “overwhelmed” and no longer able to function, Reuters reported.
Mohammed Deif, head of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, was a top target for the Israeli military.
Deif has an almost legendary status in Gaza. after escaping capture and surviving several assassination attempts.
He is believed to be one of the masterminds behind the Hamas attack on 7 October, which left some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners – mostly civilians – dead and 251 others taken back to Gaza as hostages.
This led to a massive Israeli military campaign in Gaza that killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
