At least 40 people were killed, and dozens more injured, following Israeli airstrikes in a designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, according to Hamas’s civil defence authority. The strikes reportedly targeted tents sheltering displaced people in the al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis.
The Israeli military stated that the attack was aimed at a Hamas operations centre in Khan Younis and that precautions were taken to minimize civilian casualties. Local residents and witnesses, however, described devastating scenes, with three large craters formed from the strikes, each about seven meters deep. They reported that the craters buried over 20 tents, displacing civilians who were already fleeing previous violence.
Khaled Mahmoud, a volunteer living near the site, told the BBC that he and other aid workers were overwhelmed by the extent of the damage, calling the aftermath catastrophic. Eyewitnesses shared footage of civilians digging through debris with their bare hands in attempts to rescue those trapped under the rubble.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) emphasized that they had specifically targeted “significant Hamas terrorists operating from a command and control centre embedded within the humanitarian zone.” They also stated that multiple precautionary measures, such as the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance, were taken to avoid civilian harm. The IDF further accused Hamas of misusing civilian and humanitarian infrastructure for militant purposes.
In response, Hamas denied Israel’s claims, stating that no Hamas fighters were present in the area and rejecting accusations of exploiting civilian spaces for military operations.
This strike comes amid a broader Israeli military campaign in Gaza, launched in response to the unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 251 hostages. According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, over 40,900 people have died in the region since the campaign began.
