Hamas civil defense authorities said that Israeli attacks on designated humanitarian areas have killed at least 40 people in southern Gaza and injured dozens more.
The Israeli military said its aircraft struck a Hamas militants operations center in Khan Younis and that it was taking steps to reduce the risk of harming civilians.
Local residents said the three attacks targeted the tents of displaced people in the Mawasi humanitarian zone west of Khan Younis city, causing huge craters seven meters deep.
“Forty people were killed, more than 60 were injured and many are still under the rubble,” the director of operations for Hamas’s civil defense department told the BBC.
Witnesses told the BBC that a massive explosion occurred in the Mawasi area shortly after midnight and flames could be seen shooting into the sky.
Khaled Mahmoud, a volunteer with a charity who lives near the strike site, said he and other volunteers rushed to help but were shocked by the scale of the disaster.
“The attack caused three seven-metre-deep craters and buried more than 20 tents,” Mr Mahmoud said.
Unconfirmed footage showed civilians digging in the sand with their hands to try to rescue Palestinians from deep holes created by airstrikes.
An IDF spokesman said in a statement that the military struck “key Hamas terrorists operating within the command and control center of the Khan Younis Humanitarian Zone.”
“A number of measures were taken before the attack to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions, aerial surveillance and other means,” the spokesman added.
“Terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip continue to systematically abuse civilian and humanitarian infrastructure, including designated humanitarian zones, to carry out terrorist activities against the State of Israel and IDF forces.”
Hamas denies the Israeli military’s statement that there are Hamas militants in the area, calling it a “blatant” lie.
“The resistance has repeatedly denied that any of its members are present at civilian gatherings or use these places for military purposes.”
Thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled to Khan Younis since Israel launched a military operation there last October.
The ground operation was in response to Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, which killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.
Since then, more than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
