The IDF targeted Muwasi, an area it had designated as ‘safe,’ where tens of thousands of displaced Gazans live in tents, several of which were set ablaze in the strike. The army said it was targeting a Hamas official
Haaretz
At least 39 Palestinians were murdered by Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night and into Thursday including at least 20 in an attack that set ablaze tents sheltering displaced families in a crowded camp.
Reports said that the 20 confirmed dead in an Israeli strike in Muwasi, an area designated as a ‘safe zone’ by the IDF, included many women and children.
Israel said the strike targeted senior Hamas operatives, including Hamas official Osama Ghanim.
Tens of thousands of people have sheltered in make-shift tents for months in Muwasi, near the beach west of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
Israel has long told people to move there from other places in the Strip ‘for their safety’.
The Red Crescent said the attack occurred in the northern and western parts of the city, hitting tents and warehouses where food and other humanitarian supplies was stored.
The health ministry said the three hospitals that are barely operational on the northern border of the Gaza Strip have come under repeated attack since Israeli forces sent tanks to the Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun towns and the nearby Jabalya camp in October.
The strike at Muwasi set several large tents ablaze and exploding cooking gas canisters and burning furniture fuelled the fire. The area was strewn with charred clothing, mattresses and other belongings among the twisted frames of burnt-out shelters.
‘We don’t see anyone from the whole world standing by us or helping us in this situation. Let them stop this crazy war that’s against us. Let them stop the war,’ said Abu Kamal Al-Assar, a witness at the site.
Later on Thursday, Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the north of the enclave, said a 16-year-old boy who used a wheelchair was killed and several people, including medics, were wounded by Israeli drone fire against the medical facility.
Other Israeli strikes reported on Thursday hit Gaza City, where medics said an attack destroyed a house where an extended family had taken shelter and damaged two nearby homes, killing at least three people.
In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, an Israeli strike killed three Palestinians on Thursday, medics said. Three others were killed in a separate air strike in Shujaiyeh, in eastern Gaza City, they added.