The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said at least 71 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a designated humanitarian area. Israel said the attack targeted senior Hamas leaders.
More than 289 people were injured, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health.
Hamas says the attack took place in the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis. The Israeli military has designated the area as a humanitarian zone and is calling on Palestinians to seek shelter there.
An Israeli official said the attack targeted the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an “open area” where there were “only Hamas terrorists and no civilians.”
Rafa Salama, the Hamas commander of Khan Younis, was also targeted in the attack, the official said, calling the information leading to the incident “accurate.”
But Hamas said in a statement quoted by Reuters news agency that claims its leaders were targets were “untrue”.
“This is not the first time that Israel has claimed to target Palestinian leaders, only to have this later proven to be untrue,” the statement said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold security talks throughout the day, his office reported, according to Reuters.
An eyewitness in al-Mawasi told the BBC that the scene of the attack looked like an “earthquake”, and videos from the area showed smoldering wreckage and bleeding victims being loaded onto stretchers. People were seen desperately trying to pick through the rubble of a large crater with their hands.
A Hamas official quoted by Reuters called the attack a “serious escalation” that shows Israel is not interested in reaching a ceasefire.
Images from the nearby field hospital in Kuwait showed chaos, with patients being treated on the floor.
According to Reuters, doctors at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis say the hospital is “overwhelmed” and can no longer function.
Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, is a key target for the Israeli military.
Deif has an almost mythical status in Gaza after escaping capture and surviving several assassination attempts.
He is seen as one of the masterminds behind the October 7 Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners – mostly civilians – and took 251 others hostage back to Gaza.
It led to the major Israeli military operation in Gaza, which has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.
