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Al-Mawasi, where thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering, has been targeted numerous times since October.
More than 50 Palestinians have been killed and many are wounded in Israeli military strikes on al-Mawasi, located west of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
The attack on Saturday by Israeli warplanes targeted tents housing displaced Palestinians and a water distillation unit in an area that a Gaza civil defence spokesperson told Al Jazeera was designated a “safe zone” by the Israeli military.
Images from the scene showed Palestinians trying to rescue people from under the rubble, with children and paramedics among the wounded.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said this was “a new massacre committed by the Israeli military”, adding that the area was hit by “five bombs and five missiles”.
“The scenes that are coming from the area that was targeted are incredibly bloody and devastating,” he said, adding that the victims were taken to the Nasser and Kuwaiti hospitals.
آثار مجزرة الاحتلال بمخيم النازحين في خان يونس#فيديو #حرب_غزة pic.twitter.com/J6ep2zYOiX
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) July 13, 2024
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said it can confirm at least 20 killed and 90 wounded Palestinians were brought to the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, with some critically wounded.
An official at Nasser Hospital also confirmed to Al Jazeera, but he emphasised that medical teams did not have the capacity to receive any more wounded patients, while civil defence teams continue to recover from the site of the bombing.
The Gaza Government Media Office also issued a statement saying more than 100 people, including civil defence staff, were killed or wounded in the attack.
Gaza Civil Defence confirmed in a statement that its deputy director of fire and rescue department was killed in the Israeli strike, and eight other members were wounded. It said Israeli aircraft bombed the area again as civil defence teams were trying to rescue people.
The Israeli military has not officially commented on the strike, but unconfirmed Israeli media reports citing military officials indicate a senior Hamas official may have been the target.
Reporting from Jordan’s Amman after the Israeli ban on Al Jazeera broadcasting, Hamdah Salhut said this is a familiar pattern by the Israeli military to justify attacks on safe zone.
“We have seen time and time again attacks on areas where there are displaced Palestinians in the tens of thousands. This is a tactic that is commonly used by Israeli forces, saying civilians are being used as ‘human shields’ for Hamas figures, using that as justification for killing dozens of civilians.”
The al-Mawasi area has been repeatedly targeted by the Israeli military, with a strike in late May killing at least 21 people after hitting tents housing displaced families.
At least 60 bodies were discovered after the Israeli military withdrew from some neighbourhoods in Gaza City in the devastated northern part of the besieged enclave, civil defence teams said on Friday. Over 38,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since the start of the war.