At least 71 killed as Israel attacks Gaza’s south strip

A view of the debris from destroyed tents and makeshift housing structures, following the Israeli military strike on the al-Mawasi camp for internally displaced people (IDP), near the city of Khan Yunis. PIC/PTI

An Israeli attack on the south of the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed 71 people and injured scores, the Health Ministry in Gaza informed. An Israeli official said the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, and second Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, were targets of the strike at Khan Younis.

Deif is believed by many to be the chief architect of the October 7. He has topped Israel's most-wanted list for years and is believed to have escaped multiple Israeli assassination attempts in the past. The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 289 others were injured in this attack and that many of the injured and dead were taken to nearby Nasser Hospital.

Palestinian women mourn over the shrouded bodies of three children killed in an Israeli bombing in Deir el-Balah. Pic/PTI

It remains unclear if the attack landed inside Muwasi, an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone, which stretches from northern Rafah to Khan Younis. The same coastal strip where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled to."This was designated as a safe zone filled with people from the north," said one displaced Palestinian man. "Children were all martyred here. We collected their pieces with our hands." He estimated there were seven or eight missiles and that first responders were targeted as well.

Civil defence workers on Friday dug bodies out of collapsed buildings and rubble-covered streets. Videos circulating on social media showed civil defence workers wrapping bodies, in blankets on the rubble-strewn streets of Tal al-Hawa and Sinaah. "The extreme level of fighting and devastation is incomprehensible and inexcusable and the level of chaos is affecting every Palestinian in Gaza," stated UN secretary-general Anthony Guterres. About 60 bodies have been found so far, including entire families who appeared to have been killed by artillery fire.