At least 40 people have been killed in southern Gaza and dozens more injured in Israeli strikes on a designated humanitarian zone, the Hamas-run Civil Defence authority said.
The Israeli military said its aircraft attacked an operations centre in Khan Younis belonging to Hamas fighters, and that it had taken steps to mitigate risk of harming civilians.
Local residents said three strikes targeted tents housing displaced people in the humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi, west of the city of Khan Younis, causing huge craters seven metres deep.
“Forty people were killed and more than 60 injured, while many are still under the rubble,” the operations director of Hamas’s Civil Defence authority told the BBC.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC large explosions rocked the al-Mawasi area shortly after midnight and flames could be seen rising into the sky.
Khaled Mahmoud, a volunteer for a charity who lives near the site of the strikes, said he and other volunteers rushed to help but were stunned by the scale of the disaster.
“The strikes created three craters seven metres deep and buried more than 20 tents,” Mr Mahmoud said.
Unverified videos showed civilians digging through the sand with their hands in an attempt to rescue Palestinians from a deep hole caused by the airstrikes.
In a statement, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said the military had attacked “significant Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control center embedded inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Yunis.”
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional means,” the spokesperson added.
“The terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip continue to systematically abuse civilian and humanitarian infrastructure, including the designated Humanitarian Area, to carry out terrorist activity against the State of Israel and IDF troops.”
Hamas rejected the Israeli military’s claims that there were Hamas fighters present in the area, calling it a “blatant” lie.
“The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or are using these places for military purposes.”
Thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled to Khan Younis since Israel launched its military campaign in the territory last October.
The ground operation was launched in response to Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,200 were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
More than 40,900 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.