By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Hatem Khaled and Maayan Lubell
CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – At least 71 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza on Saturday, the enclave’s health ministry said. Israel said the attack targeted Mohammed Deif, the Hamas army chief.
Hamas said in a statement that Israeli claims that it had attacked leaders of the group were false and intended to justify the attack.
According to the Israeli military, the attack on Deif also targeted Rafa Salama, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, who are seen as two of the masterminds behind the October 7 attack that sparked a nine-month war in Gaza.
Deif has survived seven Israeli assassination attempts, most recently in 2021, and has topped Israel’s most wanted list for decades. He is blamed for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.
At least 71 Palestinians were killed and 289 wounded in the attack, the deadliest toll in weeks, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Al-Mawasi is a designated humanitarian area. The Israeli military has repeatedly called on Palestinians to move there, after the military issued evacuation orders from other areas.
The Israeli military released an aerial photograph of the scene, which Reuters could not immediately verify. The military said “terrorists were hiding among civilians.”
“The location of the attack was an open area surrounded by trees, several buildings and sheds,” a statement said.
A military official told reporters during an online briefing that the area was not a tent complex, but an operational complex run by Hamas. There were other militants guarding Deif.
It was unclear whether Deif was killed. “We are still checking and verifying the results of the attack,” the military official said.
Many of those wounded in the attack were taken to the nearby Nasser Hospital, which hospital officials said was overloaded and “could no longer function” due to the intensity of the Israeli offensive and an acute shortage of medical supplies.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was holding special consultations, his office said, in light of “developments in Gaza.” It was unclear how the attack would affect ceasefire negotiations in Doha and Cairo.
At least 100 people were killed or injured, including members of the Civil Emergency Service, according to the Hamas news agency.
A senior Hamas official did not confirm whether Deif was present and called the Israeli accusations “nonsense.”
“All martyrs are civilians and what happened was a serious escalation of the war of genocide, supported by US support and global silence,” Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters, adding that the attack showed that Israel was not interested in reaching a ceasefire.
In addition, at least 10 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a prayer room in a Gaza refugee camp, west of Gaza City, Palestinian health officials said.
ATTACK ‘SURPRISING’, WITNESSES SAYS
Reuters footage showed ambulances racing to the area amid clouds of smoke and dust. Displaced people, including women and children, fled in panic, some carrying belongings.
Witnesses said the attack came as a surprise because the area was calm, and more than one rocket had been fired. Some of the wounded who were evacuated were rescue workers, they said.
“They’re all gone, my whole family is gone… where are my brothers? They’re all gone, they’re all gone. There’s no one left,” said a crying woman, who didn’t want to give her name.
“Our children are in pieces, they are in pieces. Shame (on you),” she added.
According to Hamas sources, Deif rose through the ranks within Hamas over the course of 30 years, developing the network of tunnels and bomb-making expertise.
In March, Israel said it had killed Deif’s deputy, Marwan Issa. Hamas has since neither confirmed nor denied his death.
According to Israeli counts, Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in a cross-border attack in southern Israel on October 7.
Israel has responded with a military strike in Gaza, killing more than 38,000 Palestinians, Gaza medical authorities said.
(Reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi, Hatem Khaled and Maayan Lubell; Writing by Nidal Al Mughrabi and Timour Azhari; Editing by Mark Potter and Sharon Singleton)