Khan Younis safe zone
\nAt least 19 people killed as missiles hit overcrowded area in attack that Israel says targeted a Hamas command centre
\n Khan Younis
\nIsraeli airstrikes on al-Mawasi \u201chumanitarian zone\u201d in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 19 people and injured a further 60, according to witnesses and medical officials in the blockaded Palestinian territory.
\nAt least four missiles hit the overcrowded supposed \u201csafe zone\u201d on the coast in the early hours of Tuesday, causing dozens of tents to catch fire and leaving craters as deep as 9 metres, the civil emergency service said. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in Mawasi, where conditions are dire, after being ordered to move there by the Israeli military.
\n\u201cEntire families disappeared in the Mawasi Khan Younis massacre, under the sand, in deep holes,\u201d the Gaza civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told Agence France-Presse.
\nFirst responders had initially put the number of dead at 40, before the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory released updated figures, while warning the toll was likely to rise. The Israeli military disputed the earlier casualty figure.
\nThe Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had \u201cstruck significant Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre embedded inside the humanitarian area in Khan Younis\u201d.
\nAmong the targets were two men they said were involved in Hamas\u2019s 7 October attack on Israel that triggered the war: Samer Abu Daqqa, the head of Hamas\u2019s aerial unit, and Osama Tabesh, the head of the observation and targets department in Hamas\u2019s intelligence unit.
\n\u201cThe terrorists advanced and carried out terror attacks against IDF troops and the state of Israel\u201d, they said. Hamas has denied that any fighters or commanders were present in the area.
\nLater on Tuesday morning, rescue workers and residents were still trying to find missing people and evacuate the wounded to hospital, sifting through the sand with garden tools and their bare hands, finding many body parts. Ambulances raced back and forth, while Israeli jets could still be heard overhead.
\n\u201cWe were sleeping and suddenly it was like a tornado,\u201d Samar Moamer told the Associated Press at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where she was being treated for injuries from the strike. She said one of her daughters was killed and the other was pulled alive from the rubble.
\nAlmost all of Gaza\u2019s population of 2.3 million have been displaced from their homes, with some forced to move from place to place after fresh Israeli evacuation orders upwards of 10 times. Ninety per cent of the strip is now covered by evacuation directives.
\nDespite being designated as a \u201csafe zone\u201d, Mawasi has been hit by the Israeli military several times. A strike there in July killed at least 90 people. The IDF said they had targeted and killed Mohammed Deif, Hamas\u2019s shadowy military commander, in that attack. Hamas has denied Deif is dead.
\nMawasi is severely overcrowded and aid agencies struggle to provide even the most basic services. By August, new evacuation orders had shrunk by a third the area designated as \u201csafe\u201d, but humanitarian officials said the overcrowding dissuaded many people from leaving, fearing they would not find a new place to shelter.
\nIsrael blames Hamas for civilian casualties in the 11-month-old conflict, claiming that its fighters are embedded among the civilian population and infrastructure. Hamas denies the allegation.
\nThe latest war in Gaza began after Hamas\u2019s 7 October assault on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
\nA total of 41,000 people have since been killed in Israel\u2019s war on Hamas, according to the health ministry in the territory. The war has left much of the strip in ruins and created a devastating humanitarian crisis.
\nInternationally mediated talks aimed at brokering a ceasefire and hostage release deal have repeatedly stalled. Israel\u2019s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is under increasing pressure from allies to agree to a truce: he has insisted that Israeli troops cannot withdraw from the Gaza-Egypt border, which is a red line for Hamas. Netanyahu gave the measure the green light in a previous round of talks in July.
\nAlso on Tuesday, Israel\u2019s defence minister made the bold claim that Hamas as a \u201cmilitary formation no longer exists\u201d. Yoav Gallant said Hamas\u2019s military capabilities had been severely damaged after more than 11 months of war.
\n\u201cHamas is engaged in guerrilla warfare and we are still fighting Hamas terrorists and pursuing Hamas leadership,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Khan Younis safe zone At least 19 people killed as missiles hit overcrowded area in attack that Israel says targeted a Hamas command centre Khan Younis Israeli airstrikes on al-Mawasi \u201chumanitarian zone\u201d in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 19 people and injured a further 60, according to witnesses and medical officials in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430507,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-430485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n