By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Hatem Khaled and Maayan Lubell
CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -An Israeli airstrike killed no less than 90 Palestinians in a delegated humanitarian zone in Gaza on Saturday, the enclave’s well being ministry mentioned, in an assault that Israel mentioned focused Hamas navy chief Mohammed Deif.
It was unclear whether or not Deif was killed. “We are still checking and verifying the results of the strike,” an Israeli navy official informed reporters.
The militant Islamist group Hamas mentioned in an announcement that Israeli claims it had focused leaders of the group have been false and aimed toward justifying the assault, which was the deadliest Israeli assault in Gaza in weeks.
Displaced individuals sheltering within the space mentioned their tents have been torn down by the pressure of the strike, describing our bodies and physique components strewn on the bottom.
“I couldn’t even tell where I was or what was happening,” mentioned Sheikh Youssef, a resident of Gaza Metropolis who’s presently displaced within the Al-Mawasi space.
“I left the tent and looked around, all the tents were knocked down, body parts, bodies everywhere, elderly women thrown on the floor, young children in pieces,” he informed Reuters.
The Israeli navy mentioned the strike in opposition to Deif additionally focused Rafa Salama, the commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade, describing them as two of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel that triggered the nine-month conflict in Gaza.
Deif has survived seven Israeli assassination makes an attempt, the latest in 2021 and has topped Israel’s most wished listing for many years, held liable for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.
The Gaza well being ministry mentioned no less than 91 Palestinians have been killed within the strike and 300 have been injured, the deadliest toll in weeks within the conflict-shattered enclave.
Al-Mawasi is a delegated humanitarian space that the Israeli military has repeatedly urged Palestinians to move to after issuing evacuation orders from different areas.
Reuters footage confirmed ambulances racing in direction of the world amidst clouds of smoke and mud. Displaced individuals, together with ladies and kids, have been fleeing in panic, some holding belongings of their fingers.
The Israeli navy printed an aerial photograph of the location, which Reuters was not instantly capable of confirm, the place it mentioned “terrorists hid among civilians”.
“The location of the strike was an open area surrounded by trees, several buildings, and sheds,” it mentioned in an announcement.
The Israeli navy official mentioned the world was not a tent advanced, however an operational compound run by Hamas and that a number of extra militants have been there, guarding Deif.
HOSPITAL ‘FULL OF PATIENTS’
Lots of these wounded within the strike, together with ladies and kids, have been taken to the close by Nasser Hospital, which hospital officers mentioned had been overwhelmed and was “no longer able to function” because of the depth of the Israeli offensive and an acute scarcity of medical provides.
“The hospital is full of patients, it’s full of wounded, we can’t find beds for people,” mentioned Atef al-Hout, director of the hospital, including that it was the one one nonetheless working in southern Gaza.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was holding particular consultations, his workplace mentioned, in gentle of “developments in Gaza”.
It was unclear how the strike would have an effect on ceasefire talks underway in Doha and Cairo.
“Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s not good. I don’t know about Mohammed Deif, I know that keeping the war is bad for all of us,” mentioned Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of an Israeli hostage who was collaborating in a hostage solidarity march simply exterior Jerusalem on Saturday.
“We need to bring the hostages back,” she informed Reuters.
“If (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu killed Mohammed Deif then he has his picture of victory so bring them back now.”
ATTACK HIT CALM AREA, WITNESSES SAY
Individually on Saturday, no less than 20 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli assault on a prayer corridor at a Gaza camp for displaced individuals in west Gaza Metropolis, Palestinian well being and civil emergency officers mentioned.
A senior Hamas official didn’t verify whether or not Deif had been current within the assault on Khan Younis and referred to as the Israeli allegations “nonsense”.
“All the martyrs are civilians and what happened was a grave escalation of the war of genocide, backed by the American support and world silence,” Sami Abu Zuhri informed Reuters, including the strike confirmed Israel was not eager about reaching a ceasefire deal.
Critics have accused Israel of committing genocide in opposition to Palestinians, which Israel denies. It characterises its actions as self-defense to forestall one other assault like Oct. 7, although the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice ordered Israel in January to take motion to forestall acts of genocide.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 individuals and took greater than 250 hostages within the cross-border raid into southern Israel on Oct. 7, in response to Israeli tallies.
Israel has retaliated with its navy motion in Gaza that has killed greater than 38,000 Palestinians, medical authorities in Gaza say.
Witnesses mentioned the Khan Younis assault got here as a shock as the world had been calm, including multiple missile had been fired. A few of the wounded who have been being evacuated have been rescue staff, they mentioned.
“They’re all gone, my whole family’s gone … where are my brothers? They’re all gone, they’re all gone. There’s no one left,” mentioned one tearful girl, who didn’t give her title.
Rising up the Hamas ranks over 30 years, Deif developed the group’s community of tunnels and its bomb-making experience, Hamas sources say.
In March, Israel mentioned it killed Deif’s deputy, Marwan Issa. Hamas has not confirmed or denied his demise.