At least 90 Palestinians have been reported killed in an Israeli strike on a displacement camp in southern Gaza which Israel said targeted Hamas’ military chief, who was an alleged mastermind of the October 7 attacks.
Footage from Al-Mawasi, which has been designated as a safe zone for Palestinians fleeing the fighting elsewhere, shows bodies in the street and destroyed tents.
A senior staffer at UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, described the Nasser hospital, which took in victims of the strike, as “the most horrific scenes I have seen in my nine months in Gaza.”
Mohammed Deif – the leader of Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing – was the figure targeted, alongside the head of the Khan Younis brigade, Rafe Salama, an Israeli security official told CNN.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a press conference in Tel Aviv Saturday that he was not certain whether Deif and his deputy had been killed, but said he had given his blessing for the head of Shin Bet – Israel’s security agency – to carry out the operation after being assured there were no hostages in the area.
The strike left scenes of devastation, with the Gaza Health Ministry reporting at least 90 people killed and 300 people injured. It said women and children accounted for half of those killed and dozens of those injured.
CNN has no way of verifying the casualty numbers reported by the ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants killed.
