An Israeli strike has killed at least 90 Palestinians in the al-Mawasi camp in southern Gaza, the enclave’s Ministry of Health said, an attack that has drawn global condemnation.
Displaced people sheltering in the area, which was designated as a “safe zone” by Israel, described the attack as a “horrific massacre”, adding that their tents were torn down by the force of the strike and bodies and body parts strewn on the ground.
The Medical Aid for Palestinians charity published a video of Palestinians digging by hand to recover those buried in the sand following the Israeli attack.
“I don’t know what to say, the situation is a tragedy. I am not exaggerating, we have a funeral every 15 minutes leaving the hospital. This has been ongoing since the incident. One by one, people are getting killed,” said Mohammed Aghaalkurdi, a member of the charity at Nasser Hospital.
The al-Mawasi attack comes days after Israel killed dozens in Gaza City and its surrounding areas after ordering the entire population in the northern city to leave. Witnesses have told Al Jazeera that the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City has been “wiped out” in the Israeli strikes.
The Israeli army has repeatedly attacked so-called safe zones such as al-Mawasi, where Palestinians were ordered to go from other areas of the enclave. Nearly the entire population of Gaza’s 2.3 million people has been forcibly displaced since Israel launched its devastating offensive in October.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that it remained unclear whether Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas’s military wing, and another commander had been killed. Israel justified the massacre saying it targeted Hamas commanders.
Hamas has denied Deif had been killed and said Israeli claims it had targeted leaders of the group were false and aimed at justifying the attack, which was the deadliest Israeli attack in Gaza in weeks.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, in a statement, said he was “shocked and saddened” by the civilian deaths, which underscored “nowhere is safe in Gaza”, and said international humanitarian law must be upheld.
Campaigners say it is a violation of wars of law as civilian areas ought to be protected from attacks. The International Court of Justice said in January that Israel’s onslaught in Gaza “plausibly” amounted to genocide.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 91 Palestinians were killed in the strike and 300 injured, the deadliest toll in weeks in the conflict-shattered enclave.
Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign affairs and security policy representative, called for an independent probe and condemned any potential violation of international law, posting on social media site X that the “end can’t justify all means”.
Also on Saturday, at least 20 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a prayer hall at a Gaza camp for displaced people in west Gaza City, Palestinian health and civil emergency officials said.