Hamas-run health ministry says 71 killed in Israeli strike targeting military chief

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says at least 71 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a designated humanitarian area, in an attack which Israel says targeted senior Hamas leaders.

More than 289 people were injured, according to the health ministry's statement.

The strike hit the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis, which the Israeli military has designated as a humanitarian zone, urging Palestinians to seek shelter there.

An Israeli military official said he did not know how many people died in the strike and would not say if the two Hamas men were among those killed or wounded.

He said the strike targeted the head of Hamas's military wing, Mohammed Deif - a top target for Israel's military - and took place in an "open area" where there were "no civilians".

He refused to say whether it was inside a designated safe zone, but said Hamas leaders had “cynically” set up in a civilian area.

BBC Verify has analysed footage of the aftermath of the strike, confirming that it took place within an area shown on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) website as a humanitarian zone.

The official also said he was unaware of any hostages taken during the 7 October attack on Israel being in the area.

Rafa Salama, the Hamas commander for Khan Younis, was also targeted in the strike, the official said, adding that “accurate intelligence" was gathered before the "precision strike".
Hamas said the claim that their leaders were targets is "false".

"It is not the first time Israel claims to target Palestinian leaders, only to be proven false later," the group said in a statement.

An eyewitness in al-Mawasi told the BBC that the site of the strike looked like an "earthquake" had hit, and videos from the area show smouldering wreckage and bloodied casualties being loaded onto stretchers. People can be seen trying desperately to pick through the rubble of a large crater with their hands.

One of the doctors at a hospital dealing with the aftermath of the attack has told the BBC it is “one of the black days”.

Speaking to Newshour on the BBC World Service, Dr Mohammed Abu Rayya said the majority of cases coming in were dead, with others suffering from multiple shrapnel wounds.

He said it was like being in "hell", adding that many of the casualties were civilians, notably women and children.

Footage from the nearby Kuwait field hospital showed scenes of chaos with patients being treated on the floor.

The Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis is "overwhelmed" and no longer able to function, said British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military told all residents of Gaza City to evacuate south to the central Gaza Strip, amid intensified operations in the north.