Israeli airstrikes on al-Mawasi camp in southern Gaza killed at least 90 people and injured 300 others, according to Palestinian health officials.
Saturday’s attack on the Israeli-designated “safe zone,” located west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, involved fighter jets and drones, according to witnesses.
Israeli officials said the attack targeted two senior members of Hamas’ military wing, claiming they were hiding among civilians.
Hamas rejected this claim as “false”, saying it is a way to cover up the “horrible massacre” in a place where displaced Palestinians were urged to seek shelter after being ordered to evacuate their homes elsewhere in the Strip.
Here’s everything you need to know about the attack and its aftermath:
What is the situation on the ground?
The attack killed at least 90 civilians in a densely populated area home to around 80,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israeli warplanes hit tents housing displaced Palestinians and a water distillation unit.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said the area was hit by “five bombs and five missiles”.
Displaced people sheltering in the area said their tents were demolished by the force of the attacks and described bodies and body parts strewn across the ground.
“I didn’t even know where I was or what was happening,” said Sheikh Youssef, a Gaza City resident who is displaced in the al-Mawasi area.
“I left the tent and looked around. All the tents were torn down, body parts, bodies everywhere, elderly women thrown to the ground, small children in pieces,” he told the Reuters news agency.
The injured were taken to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, which lacks essential personnel and equipment. Rescuers say the Israeli army attacked crews heading to help victims.
An official at Nasser Hospital told Al Jazeera that medical teams did not have the capacity to receive more injured patients as civil defense teams continued to work on search and rescue operations at the site of the attack.
Mohammad Subeh, an emergency doctor who works at one of the field hospitals near al-Mawasi, told Al Jazeera that rescue teams were “pulling people off the ground”.
The al-Mawasi area has been repeatedly attacked by the Israeli military, with an attack in late May targeting tents housing displaced families, killing at least 21 people.
What are Israeli authorities saying?
The Israeli military said in a statement that it acted based on “accurate intelligence” to target an area where “two senior Hamas terrorists” and additional fighters hid among civilians. He described the strike site as “an open area surrounded by trees, several buildings and warehouses.”
The figures targeted were Rafa’a Salameh, commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, and Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ military wing – both accused of being the masterminds of the Hamas-led October 7 attack on southern Israel.
Speaking at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was “not absolutely certain” that Hamas officials were killed in the attack, but said it had nevertheless been beneficial to Israel.
“Only the attempt to assassinate Hamas commanders sends a message to the world, a message that Hamas’ days are numbered,” he said. “And that is what I will do next week in the US Congress. I will deliver Israel’s message to the United States and the entire world.”
Netanyahu said he approved the attack after receiving satisfactory information about the collateral damage and the type of ammunition to be used. He added that the Israeli military would “one way or another” kill all Hamas leaders.
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said that Netanyahu’s directive to “attack and kill Hamas officials wherever they are,” claiming he was carrying out precise and targeted attacks, had been repeatedly used as justification for attack civilians in densely populated areas. Gaza.
What are Palestinian leaders saying?
Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas in Gaza, said Netanyahu wanted to declare a “false victory” and that allegations that he was targeting Hamas leaders were false.
“Mohammad Deif is listening to you now and mocking your false and empty statements,” he told Al Jazeera Arabic.
Hamas had already issued a statement on Telegram calling on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem to “mobilize” in response to the attack.
“We call on all resistance brigades to mobilize across Gaza and in loyalty to the blood of the martyrs,” the statement said.
The armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said in a statement that Israel was “continuing the war of extermination against our people.”
“This crime confirms that the occupation disrespected all international norms and agreements,” stated the PIJ.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa condemned Israel’s “genocidal crimes” in Gaza, saying Palestinians were “going through a very difficult time”.
Mustafa said Israel’s actions were more broadly aimed at the Palestinian project as a whole and included Israel’s goal of establishing an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Hanan Ashrawi, an academic and activist, said the attack on al-Mawasi “turned all of Gaza into a huge death zone.”
“American bombs and projectiles rain down on Gaza while the Israeli government and its thugs manage to prevent any form of medical, food or fuel supplies from reaching the devastated population,” she said in a post on X.
Today’s horrific massacre and brutal bombing of displaced Palestinians in the Israeli-designated “safe” zones of Muassi, Khan Younis, is the latest in an escalation that has turned all of Gaza into a huge death zone. American bombs and projectiles fall on Gaza as Israelis…
– Hanan Ashrawi (@DrHananAshrawi) July 13, 2024
What is the situation under international law?
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, told Al Jazeera that the attacks may have violated international law.
“People living in a safe area are protected by international law. If there is a military target within a safe zone, the action must be proportionate to the military advantage sought to be achieved. Killing 70 people for one is not proportionate,” she said.
“I am disgusted by Israel’s tolerance of impunity that is allowing the genocidal war,” she added.
In March, the UN expert published a report that stated there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
How is the world reacting?
Egypt
“We condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli attacks on the al-Mawasi area,” Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The ministry emphasized that “continuing violations of the rights of Palestinian citizens” add serious “complications” to reaching a ceasefire agreement.
Qatar
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “the repetition of the heinous crimes proves day after day the need for urgent international action to immediately put an end to this brutal aggression and provide protection to the Palestinian people.”
He also warned that Israel’s “recklessness” would undermine international efforts to implement a two-state solution “and thus pave the way for the expansion of the cycle of violence in the region and the threat to international peace and security.”
Saudi Arabia
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for the “activation of international accountability mechanisms” against Israeli abuses. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns in the strongest terms the continuation of the genocidal massacres against the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli war machine,” it said in a statement.
Will
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the attack was the “latest crime in the series of crimes committed by the Zionist regime that kills children,” in a post on X.
“The Zionists have once again brutally shown that, in order to compensate for the defeats suffered on the battlefield with resistance, they do not recognize any human and moral red line towards the defenseless residents of the Gaza Strip, but they must know that insisting on this path is nothing it’s more than a broader global hatred.”
Jordan
Itamaraty said in a statement that it condemned the attack on the tents of the “displaced people”. Spokesman Sufyan al-Qudah said Jordan denounces Israel’s continued violation of international law and emphasized the need for the international community to act to end Palestinian suffering.
Colombia
President Gustavo Petro expressed outrage at what he called “the greatest injustice”.
“I am even more outraged because this destruction of international human rights is a prelude to the barbarity they want to unleash on all oppressed people on earth,” he said in a publication on X.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
