Aftermath of an Israeli strike in Al-Mawasi, Gaza. Photo: BBC.
Israeli occupation forces killed at least 71 civilians and injured 289 more in a series of massive airstrikes on the Al-Mawasi region on the southern Gaza coast, Al Jazeera reported on 13 July.
An official at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis told Al Jazeera that more than 20 bodies and dozens of wounded people have been brought to the hospital.
He said civil defense teams continue to recover from the rubble, but the hospital cannot receive any more wounded patients.
An eyewitness told the BBC that the strike site looked like an “earthquake” had hit. The British state broadcaster reported that “videos from the area show smoldering 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.”
Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, denied a claim by Israeli Army Radio that the strikes targeted the head of Hamas’ armed wing, Mohammed al-Deif.
“All the martyrs are civilians and what happened was a grave escalation of the war of genocide, backed by the American support and world silence,” Abu Zuhri said.
Zuhri also said that the attack showed Israel was not interested in reaching a ceasefire agreement.
Al-Mawasi, a Bedouin town west of Khan Younis, is filled with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in tents.
Israel bombed refugee tents in the very Muwasi area they designated as Gaza’s sole “safe zone”, then bombed fire fighters that came to the rescue.
A carnage of epic proportions, with about 50-100 people murdered! pic.twitter.com/6CRHwvPukx
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) July 13, 2024
Israel designated the area a “safe zone” shortly after the war began in October and demanded Palestinians flee there to escape massive Israeli bombardments and ground assaults throughout the strip. A new wave of displaced families fled to the area after the start of Israel’s offensive in nearby Rafah in early May.
But Israel has bombed Al-Mawasi multiple times.
In late June, Israeli forces killed 22 Palestinians when they shelled the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Al-Mawasi. The ICRC office was surrounded by hundreds of displaced Palestinians living in tents.
Witnesses told AP that some people were killed as they went to help others who panicked after an initial bombardment.
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Source tells Al-Mayadeen: Mohammed al-Deif is alive and well
The Israeli occupation has begun to backtrack on claims of assassinating the general commander of Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Muhammad al-Deif, after “near confirmation about this in the past hours,” according to Israeli media citing a political source.
This came after a reliable source had previously confirmed to Al-Mayadeen that Commander Muhammad al-Deif is well, stressing that the Israeli allegations about his injury are baseless.
In the same context, the Hamas movement confirmed that the Israeli occupation’s claims about targeting leaders are false, noting that this is not the first time the occupation has claimed to target Palestinian leaders, only for it to be proven false later.
The movement emphasized in a statement that the purpose of these allegations is to cover up the horrific massacre committed by the Israeli occupation in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
It also explained that the Khan Younis massacre indicates the occupation government’s continuation of its genocidal war against the Palestinian people, through the repeated and systematic targeting of unarmed civilians, in tents, displacement centers, and residential neighborhoods, committing the most heinous crimes against them.
Hamas also pointed out that the occupation’s disregard for international law and treaties, and the widespread violations it commits against unarmed civilians, would not have continued without the support provided by the US administration to the Israeli occupation’s extremist government and its terrorist military.
Israel has killed over 38,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children, since the beginning of the war in October.
Thousands more are feared dead, trapped under the rubble and in streets inaccessible to rescue and ambulance crews.
(The Cradle) with Orinoco Tribune content
