The UN Secretary-General António Guterres said through his spokesman late Saturday that he was “shocked and saddened by the loss of lives.”
Israeli officials said the attack was a “precise” strike targeting Hamas’ top military commander, Mohammed Deif, and his deputy Rafa Salama.
The attack took place near the town of Khan Younis, in an area designated by the Israeli military as a safe zone for civilians.
‘Nowhere is safe in Gaza’
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said reports indicated the attack had taken place in a densely populated area.designated as a humanitarian zone providing shelter to displaced persons.”
“This underlines that nowhere in Gaza is safe“, he stressed. “The Secretary-General condemns the killing of civilians, including women and children.”
The Secretary-General reiterated the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, with all hostages released “immediately and unconditionally.”
In a post on X, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 134 “seriously injured people” had been admitted to the nearby Nasser Medical Complex “which has been hugely overwhelmed by the influx”.
Several hospitals are treating the injured
WHO staff are at the hospital along with two emergency medical teams to treat the injured, he continued.
“We have deployed 50 folding beds and 50 stretchers to increase hospital capacity, while our pre-positioned medications and trauma supplies are being used to save lives.”
Some of the wounded have also been taken to a field hospital run by the International Medical Corps in Deir Al Balah, where WHO supplies have been delivered to meet the urgent needs of about 120 others. Other NGO field hospitals have also received patients in need of urgent treatment, he said.
Senior Communications Officer for the UN Refugee Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) Louise Waterridge, tweeted shocking video Saturday afternoon local time from Al Nasser Hospital, where workers were seen “mopping up pools of blood with water only.”
She described children lying on blood-stained mattresses, “traumatized by the loss of siblings. Some had lost limbs. Many had life-changing injuries.”
‘Senseless massacre’
The independent UN expert monitoring human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese, said in a message on X that she was “shocked” by the deaths and injuries sustained during the attacks on what an Israeli military official called a Hamas operational compound in an “open area.”
Hamas said it was “untrue” that Israel had attacked its two top military commanders.
Describing the Israeli attack as “yet another senseless massacre” of civilians, Special Rapporteur Albanese tweeted: “The justification is always the same: ‘Targeting Palestinian militants’.”
Gaza Civil Defense Authority officials also reported that at least 20 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a prayer center in the Shati camp for displaced people, west of Gaza City, on Saturday.
Listen here to Louise Waterridge of UNRWA describing UN News what happened earlier this week in Gaza City, after a week-long Israeli offensive there.