EGN NEWS DESK
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the warfare in Gaza killed no less than 40 individuals and wounded 60 others early Tuesday, Palestinian officers stated. Israel stated it focused “vital” Hamas militants, allegations denied by the militant group.
The Civil Defense, first responders working underneath the Hamas-run authorities, stated it had recovered 40 our bodies from the strike in a chosen humanitarian zone generally known as Mawasi and was nonetheless in search of individuals. It stated whole households had been killed as they huddled in tents.
An Associated Press cameraman noticed three giant craters on the scene, the place first responders and displaced individuals had been sifting by the sand and rubble with backyard instruments and their naked palms by the sunshine of cellphones after the predawn strike.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, considered one of three hospitals to obtain casualties, stated round two dozen our bodies had been introduced in from the strike.
The Israeli army stated it had struck Hamas militants who had been working in a command-and-control heart. It stated its forces had used exact munitions, aerial surveillance and different means to keep away from civilian casualties.
Israel says it has tried to keep away from harming civilians all through the 11-month warfare ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault. It blames Hamas for his or her deaths as a result of the militants typically function in residential areas and are identified to place tunnels, rocket launchers and different infrastructure close to properties, faculties and mosques.
Hamas launched an announcement denying any militants had been within the space. Neither Israel nor Hamas supplied proof to substantiate their claims.
The warfare has prompted huge destruction and displaced round 90% of Gaza’s inhabitants of two.3 million, typically a number of instances. Israeli evacuation orders, which now cowl round 90% of the territory, have pushed tons of of hundreds of individuals into Mawasi, a sprawling line of squalid tent camps alongside the coast.
Aid teams have struggled to supply even fundamental companies in Mawasi, and Israel has often struck targets there regardless of designating it as a humanitarian zone.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza for the reason that warfare started. It doesn’t differentiate between fighters and civilians in its rely.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 individuals, largely civilians, of their Oct. 7 assault. They kidnapped one other 250 individuals and are nonetheless holding round 100 after releasing a lot of the relaxation in trade for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel throughout a weeklong cease-fire final November. Around a 3rd of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead.
The fundamental U.N. company offering help to Palestinians stated the Israeli army stopped a convoy for greater than eight hours on Monday, regardless of it coordinating with the troops.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini stated the staffers who had been held had been making an attempt to work on a polio vaccination marketing campaign in northern Gaza and Gaza City.
“The convoy was stopped at gun level simply after the Wadi Gaza checkpoint with threats to detain UN workers,” he wrote on the social platform X. “Heavy injury was attributable to bulldozers to the UN armoured automobiles.”
He stated the workers and the convoy later returned to a U.N. base, but it surely was unclear if a polio vaccination marketing campaign would happen Tuesday in northern Gaza.
The Israeli army didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The vaccination drive, launched after medical doctors found the primary polio case within the Palestinian enclave in 25 years, goals to vaccinate 640,000 kids throughout a warfare that has destroyed the well being care system.
—Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press author Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
